Dozens of residents urge halt to proposed Stratus data center, citing water, Great Salt Lake and power concerns

An extended public-comment period dominated the meeting as roughly two dozen speakers took turns urging the commission to stop or slow a proposed large data-center project. Speakers included longtime county residents, youth activists, environmental advocates and health professionals; common themes were water consumption, power demand, and risks to the Great Salt Lake's ecology.

Speakers presented a range of claims, including projected high water use, increased power demand and potential local health and economic consequences if lake levels fall. Multiple speakers asked the commission to take whatever measures are legally available — including using full review timelines, tabling items, supporting referenda or drafting moratoria — to give residents more time to review impacts. Several speakers also criticized incentives and alleged developers or outside interests were pushing the project. Commissioners declined to engage in back-and-forth during the public-comment period and said they would not respond directly in that forum.

Representative comments included calls to ‘take it slow’ and requests that the commission consider the precautionary principle when a proposed project could affect water, habitat and regional climate impacts. No developer representative spoke during the public-comment block recorded in this transcript, and the commission took no direct action on any developer request at the meeting beyond Commissioner Perry’s earlier request to put a moratorium item on a future agenda.