Stratos Project data center and power campus (Hansel Valley)
Also called: Stratos Project, Wonder Valley (Utah), O'Leary data center
A huge data center and gas power campus planned on ranch land north of the Great Salt Lake, backed by investor Kevin O'Leary and a state development agency (MIDA). The county approved it in May 2026 despite big protests. It was later cut to about 20,000 acres. Full buildout could take about 10 years.
Where things stand: County commissioners approved the state project area and a county agreement on May 4, 2026. Water rights are not settled.
🕒 Latest update (June 4, 2026): The developer agreed to cut the campus from about 40,000 to about 20,000 acres after a letter from the Utah Senate president.
What we know
- 📍 WhereHansel Valley, western Box Elder County, north of the Great Salt Lake, Unincorporated Box Elder County, Box Elder County
- 🏢 CompanyO'Leary Digital (with West GenCo)
- 🌳 Size20,000 acres
- ⚡ Power it needs9,000 megawatts (about as much as 7,200,000 homes)
- 🔌 Where the power comes fromNew gas power plant on site (about 3 GW at first, up to 9 GW). Talk of moving to nuclear later.
- 💧 WaterBought and contracted farm water rights; a request to switch water to industrial use was withdrawn in May 2026 to be refiled.
- 💸 Tax breaksThe state Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) approved a development deal and tax incentives on April 24, 2026.
❓ Still unanswered
Nobody has answered these in public yet. Can you help find out?
- Will the state approve the water rights the project needs? 🙋 I'll find out
- Did any referendum sponsor appeal the county attorney's rejection to court? 🙋 I'll find out
- Which company will use the data centers? 🙋 I'll find out
What happened so far
- April 24, 2026The state Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) board approved the development agreement and tax incentives.
- May 2026The developer withdrew its water-use change request after thousands of protests, saying it will refile.
- May 2026The county attorney rejected three referendum applications, saying the resolutions are administrative, not legislative.
- May 4, 2026Box Elder County Commission voted 3-0 for Resolutions 26-11 (land in the MIDA project area) and 26-12 (county services agreement).
- June 4, 2026The developer agreed to cut the campus from about 40,000 to about 20,000 acres after a letter from the Utah Senate president.
Local votes and rules
⏸️ Pause on new data centers
County commissioners unanimously paused new applications for data centers and data center power plants on unincorporated county land for 180 days (Ordinance 654). The pause does not cover the Stratos project, because the state's MIDA controls that land.
⚖️ Court case
Residents (Box Elder Accountability Referendum, BEAR) asked for a public vote on the county's Stratos approvals. In May 2026 they filed two referendum applications. The county attorney said no: he called the votes 'administrative', which cannot go to a vote of the people. BEAR appealed to the 1st District Court. The county and O'Leary Digital asked the judge to throw the case out. As of mid-September 2026 the judge had not ruled, so there was no vote in November.
⚖️ Court case
The group Alliance for a Better Utah and five unnamed residents sued MIDA, the Box Elder County Commission and two state senators who sit on the MIDA board. They say the MIDA law is unconstitutional because once a county agrees to a MIDA area, voters cannot undo it by referendum. They ask the court to stop the Stratos project.
✅ Approved
County commissioners voted 3-0 to let the state's Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) set up the Stratos project area, about 40,000 acres in western Box Elder County, for a huge data center and power campus. They also approved a 50-year deal (interlocal agreement) with MIDA. After this vote, MIDA, not the county, controls land use there.
An aerial photo of the area.
Where this comes from
- Box Elder County to vote on hyperscale data center project · The Salt Lake Tribune · May 4, 2026
- Utah's Box Elder County Commission votes to allow controversial data center despite massive outcry · KIVI · May 4, 2026
- Stratos Project Referendum · Box Elder County · 2026
- Company withdraws its bid for data center water, but not because it's backing down · Utah News Dispatch (via Idaho Capital Sun) · May 8, 2026
- O'Leary agrees to cut Stratos data center area in half following letter from Utah Senate president · Utah News Dispatch · June 4, 2026
- Tracking AI data centers in Utah (map) · ABC4 · 2026
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