Kevin O’Leary’s proposed Utah data center campus, known as Stratos or Wonder Valley, was pitched as a 40,000-acre site with nine gigawatts of power. But residents and many local officials learned about the project only shortly before its public announcement, according to The Verge’s Josh Dzieza, who discussed his investigation on the publication’s Decoder podcast.
The project went through Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority, or MIDA, a state agency with the power to take over local land-use functions in designated project areas. Dzieza said county officials whose approval was required were not told about the plan until late in the process. After the proposal became public, residents quickly organized against it.
How the backlash grew
Opposition brought together people with different concerns, including water, tax breaks and the role of AI. The site’s proximity to the Great Salt Lake, which is shrinking, added to residents’ worries. Developers said the project would not reduce water flowing to the lake, but residents were unconvinced.
The fight also became a political liability. Two county commissioners lost their seats, and Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams, who chaired MIDA, also lost his seat. O’Leary attacked critics on television by calling them Chinese spies; he later apologized, and Fox News apologized on air for the remarks. A defamation lawsuit followed.
The project’s status is uncertain
Local activists filed a referendum seeking to repeal the county’s consent for the project. The county rejected it, and the dispute is now being litigated. The project is on pause while the case proceeds, but Dzieza said it is not dead and he does not know whether it will be built.
The investigation also describes a wider rush to prepare land and power for data centers before major technology companies need them. Some projects are announcements or proposals, not funded construction plans. In Stratos’s case, the scale and speed of the pitch collided with a community that said it had been left out.
Why it matters
For residents near proposed data centers, the Utah case shows how a state development agency can shape local land use while residents may learn about a project late. The resulting backlash has put Stratos on pause, but the lawsuit means its future remains uncertain.
