Public Outcry
'Shark Tank' star Kevin O'Leary is looking to build a "hyperscale," 40,000-acre facility in northwest Utah, and locals are pissed
Earlier this month, Republican county commissioners fast-tracked approval for a 40,000-acre data center in northwest Utah, blocking public comment from hundreds of furious locals. The Stratos project, as the venture is known, is backed by Shark Tank entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary through his investment company O’Leary Digital. It’s designed to reach a 9-gigawatt power capacity, making it one of the largest “hyperscale” data centers in the world; at its projected $100 billion buildout, the center would generate and consume twice as much power as the entire state of Utah currently uses.
Despite a massive public outcry, Box Elder County commissioners unanimously approved the project after facing a contentious crowd in a May 4 meeting at the county fairgrounds. Commissioner Boyd Bingham threatened to have protestors removed by law enforcement, telling them, “For hell’s sake, grow up.” He and his fellow commissioners then left the room and finished the meeting in a closed session, livestreaming their final unanimous vote of 3-0. O’Leary, who did not attend the meeting, claimed on social media that the protestors were “professional… paid, and bused in.” Environmental advocate and former U.S. Senate candidate Caroline Gleich fired back, saying, “Utahns don’t want an out-of-state billionaire controlling our land.”
