BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah — Many people in Box Elder County and across the state of Utah are concerned about the impact that a 40,000-acre data center would have on the region's air quality, water, electricity consumption and other environmental concerns.
But Kevin O'Leary, one of the people spearheading the project, is trying to minimize these concerns, claiming that their methods will offset any impact.
"Sustainability is at the heart of what we do in terms of all these proposals," O'Leary said in a video posted to X.
O'Leary, famous for his role as an investor on "Shark Tank," said they plan to combine water-cooling and air-cooling for the "Stratos Project" data center in Hansel Valley, Utah. He also said that they "can" use alternative methods of generating power, like wind, solar and battery technology — although the plans available to the public so far indicate that it will rely on natural gas from the Ruby Pipeline.
In Monday's county commission meeting, the commissioners and the Bear River Water Conservancy claimed that the water used by the data center is not used by the local residents, is not drinkable, and is privately owned.
"I’m the only developer of data centers on earth that graduated from environmental studies," O'Leary said in his video posted Tuesday. "I'm pretty aware of what these concerns are... So if you're an environmentalist and you don't care about that stuff, of course you protest."
O'Leary also claims that the protesters at Monday's meeting were bussed in and paid —"by somebody, I don't know who."
I’m the only developer of data centers on earth that graduated from environmental studies. I'm pretty aware of what these concerns are. They are around air, water use, heat, noise pollution. So sustainability is at the heart of what we do in terms of all these proposals. We… pic.twitter.com/Qvob70uEmh
— Kevin O'Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) May 5, 2026
