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Millard County approves C-2 conditional use permit for data center; commissioners push water-reporting conditions
Summary
The Millard County Commission approved a C-2 conditional use permit amendment for a Jewel Capital Partners data center campus with 21 conditions. Commissioners pressed the applicant on water use reporting and metering; the applicant agreed to routine reporting and to comply with state water-engineer requirements.
The Millard County Board of Commissioners voted to approve a C-2 conditional use permit amendment for a data center and on-site power generation campus proposed by Jewel Capital Partners LLC, approving the permit with the 21 conditions recommended by county planning staff. The decision followed a public hearing and extended discussion about groundwater use and monitoring.
The company’s representative, Victor Wright, told the commission the project will be spread across a roughly 4,000-acre campus and that power generation will be “in situ” — that is, colocated with the data-center buildings and enclosed to limit visible infrastructure and noise. Wright said the project team had met with county stakeholders including the county planner, sheriff and roads staff, and that the proposal was designed to comply with air-quality and zoning requirements.
The action matters because residents had raised water‑use concerns during public comment and during the commission’s deliberations. One commissioner said many residents worry about groundwater and asked for a mechanism so the county would be notified if actual water consumption rose beyond company estimates. The applicant replied that the project is already metered and that water use is reported annually to the state water engineer, and agreed to report water use to the county per the conditional‑use plan.
Commissioners and the applicant discussed technical details of cooling and water consumption. Wright said the project would not use evaporative cooling common in wetter regions; instead, the company plans to use combined cooling, heat and power systems that largely recycle cooling heat and therefore substantially reduce water demand. He also said flushing, toilet use and cleaning — not the cooling system — are the principal routine uses of water on site.
County staff and the applicant referenced an ongoing curtailment study led by the state water engineer for the valley and noted that any regulatory curtailment would apply under state law. Wright said the company has voluntarily installed meters and is already reporting use to the state engineer, and that the property’s water rights are deeded and metered.
After discussion the commission moved to approve the conditional use permit amendment application Z2025048 for the data center and electrical generating facility at approximately 11000 North McCormick Road, with the recommended 21 conditions. The motion passed on an affirmative voice vote.
Looking ahead, commissioners said they expect the applicant to provide the water‑use reports the conditional permit requires and to comply with any future curtailment or state‑engineer directives. The county record will reflect the 21 conditions and any routine reporting required by the county planner as part of permit compliance.
