PARK CITY, Utah — At his Operation Gigawatt Summit in Park City on Friday, Governor Spencer Cox promised no steps would be skipped when it comes to the proposed Box Elder County data center.
While Cox appeared with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, the two spoke about a range of topics from air quality to saving the Great Salt Lake. Although Zeldin declined to weigh in on the Stratos project, Cox did and referenced how nothing has been set in stone.
"...in Utah, we have to follow the law," said Cox. "That’s what’s been missing from this discussion, is that those permits have not even been applied for yet, when it comes to the air quality permits."
Standing next to Zeldin, the governor also disputed reports about the amount of power the data center would need to operate.
"This idea there’s going to be 9 gigawatts of natural gas power. That’s never going to happen. That’s just not a thing," Cox claimed. "With current technologies, you could never get, you could never qualify for the air permits for that type and that size of power. Maybe a gig-and-a-half, maybe a little more than that.
Here are the lobbyists Kevin O’Leary hired to promote his Box Elder County data center:
Cox said Stratos Project developers would use new technologies, like nuclear and geothermal, to power the center, but reiterated that those behind the data center would have to follow state guidelines to get approval.
"When they have to go through that permitting process," said Cox, "they don’t get to skip any steps."
