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The Worst News of the Day
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Who is taking land, who is paying for the power and what switches on next. Free, and you can leave whenever you like.
The Worst News of the Day
(Or How Bad Is It?)
Who is taking land, who is paying for the power and what switches on next. Free, and you can leave whenever you like.
Utah's 9-gigawatt private campus — the shadow grid, at state scale
The Stratos Project is a planned data-center and energy campus of roughly 40,000 acres in Hansel Valley, Box Elder County, Utah — developed by Kevin O'Leary's O'Leary Digital and advanced through the state's Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA). The project says it will need about 9 gigawatts of power and will generate that power itself. The first construction permit covers fewer than 2,000 acres; the ambition covers a valley. In June 2026, after statewide backlash, O'Leary agreed to halve the footprint to roughly 20,000 acres — the energy plan did not shrink with it.
Regulatory stage: State project area created (Military Installation Development Authority, April 2026) and county land-use approval granted (May 2026); energy, water, and environmental permitting still ahead.
Nine gigawatts is utility scale — and the plan is to build it as private, self-supplied generation rather than draw it from the public grid. That makes Stratos the largest announced test of the shadow-grid model The Big Drop tracks: energy infrastructure built for one customer, advanced through a state development authority, with the public's water, air, and land questions arriving after the land deal. Whoever writes the permits writes the rules — and the record of who asked for what starts here.
Residents of Box Elder County and the towns around Hansel Valley; the Great Salt Lake watershed and the communities that depend on it; Utah ratepayers and taxpayers backing MIDA-financed infrastructure; Hill Air Force Base, named beneficiary of project funding.
With legal challenges filed against the Military Installation Development Authority and county leaders, O'Leary says design work continues at full pace; the authority says it is waiting on the project's permit requests.
Salt Lake Tribune, July 29, 2026press report · highUtah Senate President Stuart Adams — chair of the Military Installation Development Authority that carried Stratos — loses his Republican primary to Stephanie Hollist. Box Elder County commissioners Boyd Bingham and Lee Perry, who voted the project forward in May, lose theirs too. One analyst's verdict: everybody who touched the data center went down.
KSL, June 24, 2026press report · highAfter a letter from Utah Senate President Stuart Adams demanding a smaller project, O'Leary agrees to remove about 20,050 acres — including 19,430 in and around Locomotive Springs — leaving roughly 19,950 acres with fewer than 10,000 developable. The 9-gigawatt energy plan is not reduced.
KUER, June 4, 2026press report · highDesign images of the hyperscale campus, credited to Gensler, are published — the project begins selling its look before its permits.
Dezeen, May 15, 2026press report · mediumThe Utah House speaker publicly addresses the Stratos controversy as statewide political attention builds.
Deseret News, May 12, 2026press report · mediumResearchers say a campus this size could create a heat island with consequences for the already-stressed Great Salt Lake.
Salt Lake Tribune, May 7, 2026press report · highCounty land-use approval for the 40,000-acre campus clears on a unanimous vote, over resident objections raised at the hearing.
Salt Lake Tribune, May 4, 2026press report · highThe Military Installation Development Authority board creates the Stratos Project Area in western Box Elder County — the state-level vehicle that carries the project.
Utah Governor's Office — Stratos Project FAQgovernment record · highThe project area covers about 40,000 acres of unincorporated Box Elder County land centered in Hansel Valley, split across three parcels.
As created in April 2026. On June 4, 2026 O'Leary agreed to remove about 20,050 acres — see the record below.
Utah Governor's Office — Stratos Project FAQgovernment record · highThe project says it will require about 9 gigawatts of energy and will generate all of its own power.
The sponsor's own figure and promise — not an independent engineering assessment.
Utah Governor's Office — Stratos Project FAQsponsor's own document · highThe development is led by O'Leary Digital, backed by investor Kevin O'Leary, with the state's Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) as the public vehicle.
Salt Lake Tribune, May 4, 2026press report · highThe initial phase-one permit covers fewer than 2,000 acres of the 40,000-acre project area.
Salt Lake Tribune, May 4, 2026press report · highThe sponsor says the project will fund modern buildings at Hill Air Force Base, clean the water it uses for return to the Great Salt Lake, and create 2,000 jobs.
Sponsor commitments, recorded as claims — none yet verified against a binding document.
Utah Governor's Office — Stratos Project FAQsponsor's own document · mediumScientists have warned the campus could create a heat island large enough to affect the Great Salt Lake; local pushback also names water use, noise, and light pollution.
Salt Lake Tribune, May 7, 2026press report · highEvidence tiers, strongest first: government record · court record · sponsor's own document · press report · aggregator · inference. A sponsor's own document proves what the sponsor SAID, not that it is true. Humans and machines can both make mistakes — verify before acting.
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