Box Elder residents urge commission to block data center, commissioners consider moratorium

Dozens of residents, youth activists and local leaders used the public-comment period at the Box Elder County Commission's May 27 meeting to urge commissioners to halt or slow approvals for AI and data center projects. The comments followed Commissioner Lee Perry's request earlier in the meeting to discuss a potential moratorium and zoning review for data centers at a future meeting.

Speakers raised multiple concerns about water, power use, air and climate effects and privacy. "It is reported that there are over 40 data centers already in Utah," said DeAnna Hardy, and other speakers told commissioners a proposed data center would "take more water than the whole county" and risk the Great Salt Lake. Youth coalition representative India Elliott, speaking for a group of mostly high-school volunteers, said the project would "directly impact the Great Salt Lake" and urged the Commission to "put people over profits and listen to them." Finley Whitney, a 17-year-old speaker, repeated widely circulated figures about the proposed project's scale, saying it would require "9 gigawatts of power" and comparing its heat output to "23 atomic bombs daily," language used by some speakers to emphasize perceived environmental risk.

Several speakers also accused officials of favoring project proponents and asked the Commission to expand public comment windows and slow the permitting timeline. David Jardine, a local resident, told the Commission he supported a moratorium and asked elected officials to "slow down the process as much as possible" and to open additional review opportunities. Chairman Tyler Vincent told the audience the Commission appreciated the comments and that he was taking notes; no formal action on the moratorium occurred at the conclusion of the meeting.