Without a public vote, independent environmental review, or any standard process, Utah approved a 9-gigawatt data center that would more than double our state’s energy use. Canadian investor Kevin O’Leary touted how easy it was to make this deal with Utah, and that should concern all of us. What happened to due diligence or public comment? In bypassing checks and balances, this rush has undermined the state’s commitment to save the Great Salt Lake and sold out not only Box Elder County residents, but all Utahns. After receiving a personalized letter from Gov. Spencer Cox confirming the state’s commitment to saving Great Salt Lake and its importance in “protecting Utah’s air quality,” our family’s foundation committed $10 million to the lake’s rescue. Just two weeks after our public announcement, I learned the state had approved a hyperscale data center just off the lake’s north end, which seemed to directly contradict the priorities the governor had just asked us to support. Wrong place The planned site sits just above the north of Great Salt Lake. Overuse has decreased 73% of the lake’s water and 60% of its surface area. Its exposed lake bed now produces dozens of toxic dust storms annually, blowing into the yards, homes and agricultural fields of 2.6 million Utahns. We have a chance to pull off the world’s first saline lake rescue, but this 9-gigawatt industrial campus could change that. A Utah State University physicist calculated that the project’s combined thermal output could raise regional nighttime temperatures 8 to 12 degrees, enough to accelerate evaporation from a lake already in crisis.  The wrong fuel Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) selected Hansel Valley specifically because the Ruby Pipeline runs through it. This infrastructure convenience could lock Utah into a fossil fuel commitment with its accompanying air pollution, with no cited exit clause. Utah Clean Energy calculates that a 9-gigawatt natural gas facility could increase the state’s total CO2 emissions by 75% and generate nitrogen oxide pollution equivalent to doubling all of Salt Lake County’s industrial emissions.  The choice of fuel also raises economic questions. Solar, wind and geothermal are now more affordable than natural gas. These technologies produce almost no air pollution and consume almost no water. Battery storage technology and nuclear power are improving rapidly. There is no shortage of better options. With developers being offered a 91.7% cut in the state energy use tax, no disclosed limits on gas consumption, what keeps O’Leary from producing surplus power at subsidized rates and selling it back to a grid where Utah taxpayers have to pay full market rates? The wrong deal This deal has no clear public benefit proportional to its risks. The approval bypassed normal county zoning through a military land loophole. Some of the same state officials who created MIDA now oversee it, raising serious questions about independent oversight and accountability. Under the MIDA agreement, O’Leary Digital pays property tax at the same rate as Box Elder homeowners, then recoups 80% of it through tax rebates. If the center’s AI services are sold to out-of-state clients, Utah bears the whole environmental cost while the profits leave the state. The clear winners are O’Leary’s investors, the private landowners, and the natural gas suppliers to the project. Box Elder County residents and every Utahn who lives downwind of this proposed 9 GW data center inherit the pollution, the risk, and the threat to our dying Great Salt Lake.  A path forward Utah legislators, Gov. Cox and MIDA board members: Support the BEAR referendum — let Box Elder County voters decide their own future. Require an independent environmental impact study before any permits are issued. Require data centers to use renewable energy that protects Utah’s air quality, water, and public health. Require legally enforceable water protections before permitting. Require any major project in the Great Salt Lake watershed to fund restoration through a gross revenue percentage or project-specific tax. Close military land authority loopholes that allow fast-tracking without public oversight. Utah does not have to choose between economic growth and the future of the Great Salt Lake. Projects of this scale should face the same scrutiny and environmental safeguards expected of every other major development in our state. That is not opposition. That is stewardship. I encourage Utahns to learn more about the proposed Stratos Data Center, and the crisis facing our Great Salt Lake. I also invite the public to attend a free screening of “The Lake” — Sundance’s 2026 U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award winner for Impact for Change — on June 22 at 7 p.m. at Park City’s Eccles Center for the Performing Arts.  Karen C. Marriott is a Park City civic leader and philanthropist who serves on the boards of the J.W. and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, the Marriott Daughters Foundation, and the University of Utah Board of Trustees. She founded Serve Park City, connecting volunteers with local nonprofits, and has spent nearly three decades championing mental health, interpersonal violence prevention, and community resilience across Summit County. She was named the Park City Rotary Club’s Volunteer Citizen of the Year in 2020. The post Utah’s Data Center: Wrong place, wrong fuel, wrong deal  appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less