BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah — Representatives of a future data center project say they’re working to secure the rights to 13,000 acre-feet of water in the Hansel Valley area of Box Elder County. But for just one of those water rights, a change application has drawn more than 2,300 formal protest filings as of Tuesday afternoon.
We talked with Rob Dubuc last week about the Stratos Project data center after he filed on behalf of Friends of the Great Salt Lake.
“It’s impressive at one level, scary at another,” said Dubuc, who serves as counsel for the organization.
WATCH: Just how big is the proposed Box Elder Co. data center? This big
The application is by Bar H Ranch, a private landowner that holds 1,900 acre-feet of water.
Dubuc said he wants to see more research that supports the change.
“Show us the studies, show us the design — prove it,” he said.
More than 1,000 letters like his have come in just since yesterday.
The application shows that the water will primarily be used for power generation at a natural gas power plant, with some also going to the data center. Stratos representatives claim that with their closed-loop system, their usage will be even less than what is currently used for agricultural purposes.
The application says there will be no consumptive loss for the Salt Wells stream, which is the source of this water right. But Dubuc is skeptical, noting that it’s a direct tributary of the GSL.
“There’s misunderstanding on what constitutes Great Salt Lake,” said Dubuc. “A groundwater aquifer that feeds into the lake is absolutely critical to the lake.”
In the wake of county commissioners approving the project to move forward, celebrity backer Kevin O’Leary spoke out on social media.
Box Elder County
Kevin O'Leary disputes environmental concerns of his data center project
“Well, I’m actually the only developer of data centers on Earth that graduated from environmental studies,” O’Leary said in a Facebook reel.
So he says he’s aware of the various environmental concerns at play. Even though all indications have pointed to the data center being natural gas-powered, he detailed the other options becoming available.
"We can also put a percentage of the power generation through solar, wind, and batteries because the battery technology is 10X more efficient than it was just five years ago,” O’Leary said. “So that’s very helpful because it makes the cost of energy lower."
But he also claimed that the concerns being raised are not coming from Utahns.
“We think over 90% of the protestors are actually not people that live in Utah or Box Elder County — they’re being bussed in,” O’Leary said.
Yet the ever-growing list on the Division of Water Rights website shows many, many people with Utah addresses filing protests.
The protest period for the water right ends tonight. A hearing for this application has been requested by Dubuc and others. But it’s not yet clear if the Division of Water Rights will hold one.
