Unfortunately for Utah, winter didn’t show up this year. While it made for great calving weather, places like Park City, which relies on winter tourism, saw an estimated $200 million dollar impact in the first quarter of the year. The state’s snowpack was the lowest on record ranging from 20% to the highest I could find at 66%. Towns like Fairview, located in the center of the state and the home of current Gov. Spencer Cox (R), have reduced their allowed watering for agriculture Rain Birds to a mere fraction each week.
A WLJ source from a local water board in Fairview revealed that irrigation water was turned on a full month early and relies solely on snowpack. When water was turned on, the lake sat at 35% capacity. It is estimated that folks in this area will be out of irrigation water around the second week of July. Farmers were able to irrigate a first crop, and roughly 25% of normal for a second crop in an area that normally produces four crops.
Just over 100 miles away is the West’s current largest wildfire, the Cottonwood Fire, burning through Fishlake National Forest. Several ranches and many more allotments are threatened. In three days, the fire exploded to 60,000 acres, 0% contained and is believed to be human caused. There are six active major fires across the state. Of those, four were contained at less than 25% as of press time. It’s going to be a long summer for fires, but that sentiment set in during winter months.
Meanwhile, the next biggest topic in the area has been the Stratos Project, an AI data center campus project led by Kevin O’Leary, who is better known for being a “shark” on the show Shark Tank. The proposed site originally comprised 40,000 acres in Box Elder County, the northernmost county in northwest Utah. After strong backlash, the site was reduced to 10,000 acres, but the same concern remains.
According to a report published by Utah Clean Energy, the center would use 9 gigawatts of electricity, which is double the amount used by the entire state of Utah. The report claims the site would use 448 billion cubic feet of gas per year—1.5 times more natural gas than the entire state—and would emit roughly five times more nitrogen oxides per year than the entire county of Box Elder.
In a year where water is needed so badly by farmers, ranchers and citizens alike, the site would need 16.6 billion gallons of water each year; the same amount as about 25,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
O’Leary faced major backlash but fought back publicly, touting the $15 billion project to the likes of TV personalities such as Tucker Carlson, with O’Leary donning a hat with the words “Utah National Security” across the front.
The project gained national attention, but within the state borders and during an election year, voters responded to the massive double standard. Box Elder County commissioners all voted in favor of the project. Two of the three commissioners’ terms were up for reelection and neither incumbent made it through the primaries.
Lee Perry, one of the displaced commissioners, told the Salt Lake Tribune, “Do I think that the data center vote cost me the election? Yes I do. Would I do anything different? I wouldn’t vote differently, but I would push back against the state and make them come out publicly and tell everybody why they’re forcing it down our throat.”
At a higher level, voters across the state made it known in the senate race as well. Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams, who has served more than 20 years, lost the Republican primary. The New York Times calls Adams one of the longest-serving and most powerful politicians in Utah. Two other key GOP state lawmakers, Sen. Daniel McCay of District 18 and Rep. Trevor Lee of District 16, were also voted out after having publicly supported the Stratos Project.
Gov. Cox, who has also been a data center supporter, has lost major support across the state, and even the country. Growing up on a small farm in the tiny town of Fairview, it’s surprising to see the talking points and lack of transparency that’s come with this issue. Cox gained a lot of national support in how he handled the Charlie Kirk assassination, but has since fallen from favor with many.
Local sources who grew up with Cox still support him as a friend, but many say they cannot support this initiative. After such initial backlash, Cox tried to walk back support by scaling down the project from the original 40,000 acres and reduced allowed power usage. But the damage has likely been done. Known to have support from over 70% of Republicans and 28% of Democrats, Cox’s ratings have fallen sharply.
The state has a lot of flames going full bore right now—both figuratively and literally. In a state that relies so much on snowpack, water resources and limited energy, the picture is going to get more clear regarding why politicians are pushing the issue. The state’s firefighting resources are going to be depleted, farmers and ranchers are going to do all they can to survive, and the public is voicing loud and clear that they don’t have space available for a data center. When it rains it pours, but when it doesn’t, it seems like all hell breaks loose. — LOGAN IPSEN
