Josh Dzieza

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

data center development realismOct 1, 2026

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.

Supporting evidence

Josh Dzieza·Oct 1, 2026

Original excerpt

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.

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stakeholder inclusion

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

stakeholder inclusionOct 1, 2026

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.

Supporting evidence

Josh Dzieza·Oct 1, 2026

Original excerpt

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.

Context

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

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infrastructure credibility

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

infrastructure credibilityOct 1, 2026

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.

Supporting evidence

Josh Dzieza·Oct 1, 2026

Original excerpt

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

Context

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.

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local acceptance

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

local acceptanceOct 1, 2026

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.

Supporting evidence

Josh Dzieza·Oct 1, 2026

Original excerpt

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.

Context

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

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