Salt Lake Tribune: Utah can welcome data centers — without selling out its principles
Between our two families, we’re raising four children in Cache County, next door to the proposed data center in Box Elder County. As researchers working in environmental and energy policy at the Pacific Legal Foundation, handling data centers has been top-of-mind. And as parents, we spend a lot of time thinking about what kind of state our kids will inherit.
Will it be a place where opportunity is growing? Where people can build, innovate and work? Where we meet the future with confidence instead of fear?
How we respond to the recent wave of data center proposals in Utah will shape that future. Handling them right will make them a real win for Utah families — today and decades from now. Monday’s decision to move forward to the next stage is a step in the right direction.
The guiding principle should be simple: Don’t punish data centers, but don’t privilege them either.
Utah has built a reputation for steady, prudent governance. For the 19th year in a row, Utah ranked number 1 in the nation for its economic outlook. Years of sound policy and reasonable regulation have made Utah attractive to both residents and businesses alike. Data centers are attracted here because of that foundation, and we shouldn’t betray those choices with handouts.
Data centers are capital-intensive, energy-hungry and long-lived. That makes them a natural fit for a state like Utah, which has abundant energy potential. With natural gas, solar, geothermal and advanced nuclear capabilities, Utah has the resources to power growth.
The good news is that backers say the proposed project will build its own new generation assets to avoid passing costs on to Utahns. This is possible via Utah’s 2025 legislation on new large loads. Utah has been wisely setting ground rules for development for years. The Box Elder data center proposal is just the most recent fruit of the last several decades of good policy.
That said, energy abundance only works if it’s built on fair rules. Utahns are right to be skeptical when they see headlines about long lists of tax exemptions tied to massive projects. Data centers make sense here under a neutral tax system that applies broadly to all businesses. Problems that deter investment should be fixed for everyone rather than papered over with one-off deals.
Water is another area where concerns are understandable but misunderstood. Every major industry in Utah uses water. Agriculture, mining, manufacturing, housing — nothing happens without it. Existing rules are well-defined and established to protect the public.
Importantly, the data center will have to procure water from existing users. This is a fundamental function of water rights. There won’t be an increase in total water use, backers say, because the site is seeking to transfer existing water rights. Water used at the data center would have been used in other ways. Those that own it are freely selling it. If they’re seriously worried, objectors could buy or lease that water themselves and then grant it to the Salt Lake under new rules that count such conservation as a beneficial use.
Further, the data center’s ultimate customer will have extensive conservation goals. Any of the courted technology companies, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Google have each made public commitments to be water positive. They document this in each annual climate and conservation reports. Meta, for example, is collaborating with Ducks Unlimited on improving wetlands to improve the habitat near one of their data centers in Wisconsin.
Over the last several decades, Utah’s leadership showed that it is possible to both grow and to better steward our resources.
If we hold the line on our principles, data centers can bring high-paying jobs, a broader tax base and a signal to the world that Utah is open for the industries of the future. They can be part of a story where Utah continues to grow without losing what makes it special.
And our children can greet a future of more with hope, not fear.
This op-ed was originally published in The Salt Lake Tribune on May 8, 2026.
