Kevin O’Leary to Scale Back Large Data Center in Utah

Kevin O’Leary has decided to reduce the scale of his ambitious 40,000-acre data center project in Utah, responding to growing concerns from local residents and activists. In a letter to Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams, O’Leary announced he would be cutting 19,430 acres from the project, which is situated near the Locomotive Springs Waterfowl Management Area.

This decision follows Adams’ recent request for O’Leary to decrease the size of Project Stratos by 75 percent, bringing it down to approximately 10,000 acres. Adams also urged O’Leary to adopt technologies that reduce water usage and to redirect excess water to the Great Salt Lake, which is facing significant shrinkage.

In his letter, O’Leary mentioned an additional reduction of 620 acres in the northeast section of the project near the highway, emphasizing his commitment to maintaining much of the remaining land as open space. Even with this downsizing to around 20,000 acres, Project Stratos will still be larger than Manhattan, and concerns about energy consumption, environmental impact, and pollution remain significant for data centers of this scale.