How Utah locals fought Kevin O’Leary’s AI data center

Decoder · Publié le 1 oct. 2026

Josh Dzieza criticizes how data-center deals proceed without local residents’ participation and discusses the Stratos project in Box Elder County. He says, “At no part in this chain are local residents a player.” He adds that “no one bothered to tell anyone in Box Elder County that anything was coming.”. Lisez 5 points de vue avec leurs éléments à l’appui et les liens vers les sources.

Nilay Patel Josh Dzieza

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En un coup d’œil

Data-center projects can be real despite parallels with Foxconn
Dzieza says data centers are being built and can make sense in some cases, unlike the Foxconn LCD-factory project in Wisconsin. Even so, he found more parallels between the projects than he expected.
Lire le moment probant · Paragraphe 9
The rush for funding can clash with politics
Patel sees a conflict between politics and an industry seeking hyperscaler funding by completing deals and permitting as quickly as possible.
Lire le moment probant · Paragraphe 56
Dzieza says local residents are left out of development deals
Dzieza says local residents are absent from the development process. He cites Stratos, where he says no one informed people in Box Elder County about what was coming.
Lire le moment probant · Paragraphe 66
A large project announcement does not establish funding
Dzieza describes developers announcing large possible projects to attract a company such as Meta. A site’s power capacity, footprint and possible permits do not mean construction funding is in place. He calls these “paper data centers” a symptom of a broader race.
Lire le moment probant · Paragraphe 64
Dzieza sees little support beyond officials and developers
Dzieza says he has found little pro-data-center support beyond builders and state officials attracted by tax revenue. He adds that even people selling land into a project expected to be paid while disliking the development.
Lire le moment probant · Paragraphe 92

Passages clés5

Passages attribués et accompagnés du contexte nécessaire à leur vérification. Ouvrez le texte original pour vérifier la source.

Paragraphe 9

data center development realism

Data-center projects can be real despite parallels with Foxconn

Extrait original

I did not expect this to feel so similar to Foxconn initially, because unlike the Foxconn project, the data center buildout is real and at least theoretically can make sense in many cases. These things are actually getting built — unlike an LCD fab in the middle of Wisconsin. It turned out that there are more parallels than I thought.

Josh Dzieza·1 oct. 2026

Paragraphe 56

data center development process

The rush for funding can clash with politics

Extrait original

There’s an entire industry that is built around trying to acquire money from hyperscalers as fast as possible by getting these deals done, by getting the permits, by going through the process as quickly as possible, and it feels like our politics and that process are in absolute conflict.

Nilay Patel·1 oct. 2026

Paragraphe 64

infrastructure credibility

A large project announcement does not establish funding

Extrait original

So, you have these so-called paper data centers out there, but it is a symptom of the broader race dynamic.

Josh Dzieza·1 oct. 2026

Contexte

One consequence of that is that you have a lot of announcements. A lot of announcements for developers say, “I’ve got a 10-gigawatt facility here. We’re building this gigantic facility, it’s going to be the biggest data center in the world.” This happens not just with Kevin O’Leary, but also basically what they’re saying is, “Hey Meta, if you wanted to get involved with this, you could have the biggest data center in the world. You could have a 10-gigawatt facility here.” It has that power capacity, maybe it has permitting for that and has the physical footprint for it. It doesn’t mean we have funding to build a 10-gigawatt facility or anything like that.

Paragraphe 66

stakeholder inclusion

Dzieza says local residents are left out of development deals

Extrait original

At no part in this chain are local residents a player. They’re just not there. They’re not part of this system. So, you have something like Stratos, where just no one bothered to tell anyone in Box Elder County that anything was coming.

Josh Dzieza·1 oct. 2026

Contexte

They’re all racing. Their concern is, “Can we get this deal together as fast as possible?” Local residents just don’t come up.

Paragraphe 92

local acceptance

Dzieza sees little support beyond officials and developers

Extrait original

I think it’s Trump wanting it to happen, I don’t know anyone who wants a data center in their backyard. I think that was one of the surprising things to me, that there’s not really a pro-data center constituency other than I guess state officials who see them as an attractive source of tax revenue and the people building them.

Josh Dzieza·1 oct. 2026

Contexte

Even the people who were selling land into the project were saying, “I’ll get paid, but I’m not happy this is coming.”

Source et méthodologie

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