A data center project originally designed to span nearly three times the size of Manhattan is getting cut in half before a single shovel hits the ground. The Stratos hyperscale campus in Box Elder County, Utah, backed by Kevin O’Leary’s venture firm, has become a lightning rod for community opposition over water, power, and environmental concerns.
Developers have committed to reducing the project by roughly 50% or more after thousands of residents formally protested the facility’s water rights applications. The first filing alone drew approximately 3,700 to 4,000 protest comments, with many locals paying a $15 fee just to register their objections. A second application attracted around 700 more.
What 40,000 acres of data centers actually looks like
The original Stratos plan called for 40,000 acres of AI-focused data center infrastructure spread across multiple sites in Utah. To put that in perspective, Manhattan is about 14,600 acres.
The facility’s projected power demand at full build-out would reach up to 9 gigawatts. That figure is roughly twice Utah’s current peak electricity usage for the entire state.
