Data Centers · Money · Oct. 3, 2026

Data Center Industry Money in Utah Politics, 2018–2026

How much ten tech and data-center-power companies have put into Utah politics each year, who received it, and how the pattern changed: from many small checks across the Legislature to a few large ones aimed at the governor and chosen races.

The Weber County Hive — We report public records. You decide.

$185,970

from these ten companies, 2018–2023 (six years)

$582,546

from the same ten, 2024–2026 (three years)

$201,042

from Torus since 2022, every dollar to Gov. Spencer Cox

$251,446

spent by Meta's PAC in one day, June 11, 2026, on two primary races

Read this first

This page covers only the ten companies whose complete Utah records the Hive has pulled. QTS, which is building a $6 billion Eagle Mountain campus, was also searched and has no Utah political contributions on record, and neither does Kevin O'Leary under his own name. Joule and Novva were searched and have no contributions on record; a search for Aligned found only an unrelated Florida consulting firm. DataBank has not been searched yet, so the industry's real total may be higher. The power companies, PacifiCorp and Williams, are shown in their own box below. Giving money is legal, and nothing here shows any vote was traded for it.

Words to know

Tap or click a card to flip it.

Year by year

Year	Micron	Lumen	Torus	Dell PAC	Google	Oracle	Amazon	Creekstone	Microsoft	Meta (outside spending)	Total
2018	$23,750	—	—	—	$151	—	—	—	—	—	$23,901
2019	$2,050	—	—	—	$80	—	$5,330	—	—	—	$7,460
2020	$31,950	—	—	—	$100	$5,000	—	—	—	—	$37,050
2021	$300	$17,040	—	—	—	$5,000	—	—	—	—	$22,340
2022	—	$9,750	$50,000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	$59,750
2023	—	$33,750	$1,042	—	$677	—	—	—	—	—	$35,469
2024	—	$16,500	$50,000	$10,000	$100	$10,000	—	—	$5,000	—	$91,600
2025	—	$29,500	$50,000	—	—	$10,000	—	$4,000	—	—	$93,500
2026	—	$18,500	$50,000	—	$65,500	$10,000	—	$2,000	—	$251,446	$397,446
All years	$58,050	$125,040	$201,042	$10,000	$66,608	$40,000	$5,330	$6,000	$5,000	$251,446	$768,516

Dollars rounded to the nearest dollar. Micron includes IM Flash Technologies, the Lehi chip plant Micron took over in 2019. Dell's $10,000 is its one check to Gov. Cox; a same-day $10,000 entry listing Dell's PAC as both giver and receiver is left out. Google includes "Google," "Google Client Services," "Google Client Services LLC," "Google, Inc." and Google Fiber; entries of a few cents or dollars from Google account, payment or ad services are left out (see the list below the chart). Google's 2026 total counts two same-day $5,000 entries to Sen. Daniel McCay as filed; they may be one check entered twice. 2026 is through the latest reports pulled.

Google and Amazon entries left out, and why

Cents-level account entries: $0.44 to Count My Vote (2018); $0.13 to the Constitution Party ("Google GSuite," 2022); $0.71 to Daniel Friend and $0.77 to the Utah Democratic Black Caucus (2024); $0.20 to David Chappell ("Google Workspace bank account verification," 2025); $0.13 to the Utah Democratic State Party, $0.08 to John Boyd ("Google Account") and $2.17 to Utah Cares PIC ("Google One," 2026).
Small entries from Google's ad and payment services, which are most likely credits or someone paying through Google: $9.48 to H. Hall ("Google AdWords," 2018); $5.19 to Anthony Loubet ("Google Services," 2021); $8.02 to Robert Spendlove ("Google Pay," Baltimore address, 2022).
Amazon: 23 entries from 2018 to 2026 are store refunds or returns, not donations. Some are labeled "Amazon Refund," "amazon book return" or "point of sale return"; the rest are odd amounts from Amazon's retail addresses. The largest are $432.56 to Rep. Matthew Gwynn ("point of sale return," 2025), $421.08 to Protect Utah Workers (2025) and $219.34 to Rep. Ken Ivory ("book return," 2023).
Counted but unusual: $150.86 to Count My Vote (2018) and $27.20 to the United Utah Party (Google Fiber, 2023, no address listed) are odd amounts but are filed as contributions.

The power companies

Kept separate from the totals above

Data centers run on electricity, so the companies that sell or make that power are part of this story. Their giving is shown here on its own and is not added to the $768,516 above, because PacifiCorp's giving started long before Utah's data center boom and covers far more than data centers. Torus stays in the main table because it sells storage directly to data centers.

Year	PacifiCorp	to Cox	Williams
2018	$43,200	$5,000	—
2019	$29,700	$2,500	—
2020	$64,500	$10,000	—
2021	$45,000	$10,000	—
2022	$61,000	$10,000	—
2023	$46,500	$12,500	—
2024	$65,250	$25,000	$11,200
2025	$51,000	$15,000	—
2026	$47,000	$15,000	—
All years	$453,150	$105,000	$11,200

PacifiCorp wrote Gov. Cox at least one check every year from 2018 to 2026, ten checks in all. The 2019 checks to Cox ($2,500, Aug. 13) and to Dan Hemmert ($1,500, Aug. 23) are from a state results page pulled Aug. 12, 2026. 2022–2026 were pulled Oct. 3, 2026; 2018–2021 on Aug. 12 and Sept. 10, 2026, and checked again Oct. 3, 2026. Union Pacific Railroad and other companies with "Pacific" in their names are left out.

PacifiCorp, doing business in Utah as Rocky Mountain Power, is the state's largest electric utility and sells power to data centers. It gives every year to a long list of legislators of both parties, to both Republican legislative campaign committees, and to Gov. Cox, with checks to him growing from $5,000 in 2018 to $15,000 to $25,000 a year since 2024.
PacifiCorp's records include $500 to Sen. Kirk Cullimore on Jan. 18, 2019, a year before he sponsored S.B. 114, and $1,000 to Rep. Mike Schultz, its House sponsor, on Nov. 25, 2020, after it passed.
The Williams Companies, a natural gas company, is building Project Aquila, a gas power plant in Eagle Mountain that, according to its Utah Public Service Commission filing, will sell 520 megawatts directly to Meta's data center under a 12.5-year contract. Its only Utah contributions on record are from 2024: $10,000 to Gov. Cox on Dec. 17 and $400 each to Sen. Karen Kwan, Sen. David Hinkins and Sen. Luz Escamilla.

Where the money went

flowchart LR T["Torus
$201,042"] --> COX["Gov. Spencer Cox"] D["Dell PAC
$10,000"] --> COX L["Lumen
$125,040"] --> COX L --> LP["Party leadership PACs
and legislators, both parties"] MI["Micron
$58,050"] --> LEG["About 100 small checks a year
to legislators, both parties
(2018–2020)"] O["Oracle
$40,000"] --> COX O --> AG["Attorney General
Derek Brown"] MS["Microsoft PAC
$5,000"] --> AG G["Google
$66,608"] --> GLEG["$65,500 in 2026 to legislators
and GOP leadership PACs"] ME["Meta's national PAC
$270,000"] --> MU["Meta's Utah PAC
same day"] MU --> ADS["Ads, calls, mailers, data
for Tami Tran and Logan Monson"]

Pick a company

What changed in the last three years

More money. These ten gave about $186,000 over the six years from 2018 to 2023, and about $583,000 in the three years from 2024 to 2026.
Creekstone gave to the leadership PACs. Creekstone Energy, which is building the Delta data center campus, gave $2,000 each to the Utah House Republican Election Committee and the House Speaker Leadership PAC on Aug. 28, 2025, then $1,000 each to Rep. Walt Brooks and the Utah Republican Senate Campaign Committee in 2026. The state announced Creekstone's incentive, up to $172 million in tax credits over 20 years, in April 2026.
Amazon gave once. Amazon's only Utah political giving on record is from 2019: $5,000 to then-Attorney General Sean Reyes and $330 to the Santa Clara Community PAC. Every other entry under Amazon's name, 2018 to 2026, is a store refund or return.
Oracle gave to two statewide officials. Oracle, which runs data centers in Salt Lake City and West Jordan, gave $40,000 from 2020 to 2026: $25,000 to Gov. Spencer Cox, $10,000 to Attorney General Derek Brown in 2025 (filed as two same-day $5,000 entries that may be one check entered twice), and $5,000 to the Utah County Legislative PAC in 2026.
Google arrived in 2026. From 2018 through 2025, Google's counted giving in Utah was about $1,100, mostly small checks from Google Fiber. In 2026 it gave $65,500 in 30 checks, nearly all to Republican legislators and both Republican leadership PACs, including $5,000 to Sen. Kirk Cullimore, S.B. 114's primary sponsor, and $5,000 each to the House and Senate Republican campaign committees. One 2026 check went to a Democrat, Rep. Doug Owens.
Fewer, bigger checks. In 2018–2020, Micron gave about 100 small checks a year, mostly $200 to $1,000, to legislators in both parties, then stopped after 2021. Since 2022, Torus has given $50,000 checks, every one to Gov. Cox. Meta's first Utah spending was $251,446 in one day, on two primary races.
Outside spending appeared. Meta's money went to ads, calls, mailers and data for Tami Tran (Senate District 6) and Logan Monson (House District 69) rather than to their campaigns, so it does not appear in either candidate's own report. Both won their June 23 primaries.
Steady giving continued alongside it. Lumen, which runs four data centers in Salt Lake City and Ogden, has given $10,000 to $34,000 a year since 2021, mostly to both parties' leadership PACs and Gov. Cox.

Lobbyists and relationships with officials

This section lists only relationships shown in public records or in the people's own published materials. A lobbying client relationship is legal and common; it means a company paid someone to represent it before government.

Meta's lobbyists

The firm behind Meta's lobbyist, and its data center clients

flowchart TD LHP["Lincoln Hill Partners
principals named in its 2021
merger announcement:
Lincoln Shurtz, Casey Hill,
Chase Everton, Derek Brown"] LHP --> CE["Chase Everton"] -->|"lobbyist"| META["Meta Platforms"] LHP --> LS["Lincoln Shurtz"] -->|"lobbies for MIDA
(Salt Lake Tribune)"| MIDA["MIDA
approved Stratos
Apr. 24, 2026"] LS -->|"lobbyist
Apr. 26 – May 27, 2026"| OV["O'Leary Ventures
(Stratos investor)"] LHP --> CH["Casey Hill"] -->|"lobbyist
May 4 – June 11, 2026"| OV CH -->|"lobbyist"| CR["Creekstone Energy
(Delta data center campus)"] LHP --> DB["Derek Brown
now Utah Attorney General"]

Company	Lobbyist on record	Source	Status
Meta	Chase Everton, Lincoln Hill Partners (Nov. 22, 2017 – present); Meta employees registered as lobbyists: Ana Martinez and Dan Sachs (Jan. 10, 2022 – present), Jeromy Pankratz (Apr. 4, 2023 – present)	lobbyist.utah.gov, "Lobbyists by Organization," search "meta," Oct. 3, 2026	Confirmed
Facebook (Meta's name before 2021)	Derek Brown (Dec. 6, 2017 – Dec. 2, 2023; license canceled Jan. 3, 2024), now Utah Attorney General; Paul Rogers and Jeff Rogers (Feb. 13, 2016 – Jan. 17, 2017); Will Castleberry, a Facebook employee (Jan. 28, 2016 – Jan. 6, 2017)	lobbyist.utah.gov, search "facebook," Oct. 3, 2026	Confirmed
Meta (also)	HEMMCO LLC (Dan Hemmert)	Hemmert's LinkedIn client list and HEMMCO's website ("Meta Data Centers")	Listed by Hemmert himself. A state registry search for "meta" does not show HEMMCO, so the registration side is not confirmed.
O'Leary Ventures (Stratos)	Lincoln Shurtz (Apr. 26 – May 27, 2026); Casey Hill (May 4 – June 11, 2026), both Lincoln Hill Partners	Their lobbyist registrations; Salt Lake Tribune, May 19, 2026	Confirmed. A contributor search for "O'Leary" on disclosures.utah.gov, 2018–2026, found no political contributions under that name.
Creekstone Energy (Delta campus)	Casey Hill, Lincoln Hill Partners	Hill's lobbyist registration	Listed as a client; dates to be added
Silicon Slopes Commons (Utah Tech PAC)	Paul S. Rogers & Associates	Utah Tech PAC's own 2017 report: $50,000 paid to the firm	Confirmed for 2017
CenturyLink (Lumen's name before 2020)	Eric Isom (Dec. 31, 2012 – no end date listed); Stephen Mecham (Jan. 22, 2016 – no end date listed); CenturyLink employees registered as lobbyists: Georganne Weidenbach (Nov. 29, 2012 – Dec. 27, 2018), Randy Robison (Jan. 26, 2016 – Dec. 29, 2016)	lobbyist.utah.gov, search "centurylink," Oct. 3, 2026	Confirmed. "No end date listed" is how the registry shows it; it may not reflect a current engagement.
Lumen	Steve Barth (Jan. 7, 2013 – Sept. 1, 2026); Max Backlund, registered with Lumen as both his business and his client, meaning he lobbied as a Lumen employee (May 18, 2022 – Sept. 30, 2024); David Crapo (Jan. 4, 2022 – May 10, 2022)	lobbyist.utah.gov, "Lobbyists by Organization," search "lumen," Oct. 3, 2026	Confirmed. Barth's entry is listed under the name "lumen" with a start date before the company took that name in 2020; the registry may show the current name.
Torus	Carl Cox (Oct. 21, 2024 – no end date listed)	lobbyist.utah.gov, search "torus," Oct. 3, 2026	Confirmed; one record
Micron	Stan Lockhart (Jan. 3, 2013 – Sept. 2, 2016, then Jan. 9, 2017 – Nov. 24, 2021); Kendrik Gibson (Jan. 24, 2017 – Nov. 1, 2018); Paul Rogers and Jeff Rogers (Jan. 17, 2017 – July 31, 2018); Jayson Ronk, a Micron employee (Nov. 17, 2016 – Mar. 2, 2018)	lobbyist.utah.gov, search "micron," Oct. 3, 2026	Confirmed. Micron's last registration ended Nov. 24, 2021, the same year its Utah giving stopped.
Google (owns a 300-acre Eagle Mountain site)	22 lobbyists since 2012. With no end date listed: Frank Pignanelli (Dec. 31, 2012 –), Renae Cowley (Sept. 24, 2015 –), Stephen Styler (Sept. 29, 2021 –), Spencer Stokes (Mar. 7, 2022 –), Matt Holton (July 12, 2022 –), Melanie Robe (Apr. 20, 2026 –), and Google employees Joe Dooley (2021 –) and Alberto Garcia (2024 –). Ended: Douglas Foxley (2012–2023), Stephen Foxley (2013–2020), Greg Hartley (2019–2021), Jeffrey Hartley (2020–2021), Austin Cox (Aug. 12 – Oct. 9, 2021), Holly Meagher (2021–2025), Machi Johnson (2025–2026), Adam Kolowich (2022), Mike Dmitrich (2013–2014), and employees Ron Barnes, Angie Welling, Silvia Castro, Jacob Gerber and Lauren Lambert.	lobbyist.utah.gov, search "google," 38 records, Oct. 3, 2026	Confirmed
Oracle	Listed as a Lincoln Hill Partners client on Lincoln Shurtz's LinkedIn	Shurtz's LinkedIn	State registry not yet searched
Amazon	Desmond Barker (Nov. 22, 2021 – no end date listed); Ellie Booth, an Amazon employee (Feb. 28, 2019 – July 1, 2020, then Feb. 3, 2021 – no end date listed)	lobbyist.utah.gov, search "amazon," Oct. 3, 2026	Confirmed
Dell	None found	lobbyist.utah.gov, search "dell," Oct. 3, 2026	The search returned only unrelated names containing "dell" (Rick Lundell; Cowdell & Woolley PC). No Dell lobbyist is registered in Utah.

Dan Hemmert. HEMMCO's state lobbyist registration lists MIDA as a client from Jan. 19, 2023 to Aug. 3, 2026, and most of his other clients ending on Aug. 3, 2026. MIDA's board appointed him executive director (Resolution 2026-12); his start date was reported as Aug. 1, 2026. MIDA approved the Stratos project area on April 24, 2026, before he was hired. Hemmert's LinkedIn lists Meta as a HEMMCO client. As a state senator, he was a member of the Senate committee that passed S.B. 114 in 2020 and was absent for that vote.
Derek Brown. The state lobbyist registry lists Derek Brown as a lobbyist for Facebook from Dec. 6, 2017 to Dec. 2, 2023, with his license canceled Jan. 3, 2024. That period includes Facebook's 2018 Eagle Mountain data center approvals and the 2020 passage of S.B. 114. Brown was elected Attorney General in 2024. The registry shows dates and clients only; it does not show what issues a lobbyist worked on.
Lincoln Hill Partners. Its 2021 merger announcement named four principals: Lincoln Shurtz, Casey Hill, Chase Everton and Derek Brown, who is now Utah's Attorney General. Everton has been registered for Meta since 2017. Shurtz lobbies for MIDA, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, and Shurtz and Hill were both registered for O'Leary Ventures in spring 2026, around the time MIDA approved Stratos. Hill is also registered for Creekstone Energy. HEMMCO's registration lists Lincoln Hill Partners as a client from Feb. 1, 2023 to Aug. 3, 2026.
Google's lobbyists. Austin Cox, whom the Salt Lake Tribune identified as Gov. Cox's 2020 campaign manager, was registered for Google from Aug. 12 to Oct. 9, 2021. Spencer Stokes and Matt Holton, both registered for Google since 2022, share names with the two members listed for Roost Communications LLC in Utah business records; a Spencer Stokes is also listed with Casey Hill as an officer of Gathering, Inc. Matching names alone do not confirm they are the same people.
Gov. Spencer Cox. Received all of Torus's contributions, Dell's one contribution and $24,000 from Lumen.
Meta's Utah PAC is chaired by Josh Althouse, Meta's public policy director; its treasurer is an attorney at a Fremont, California political law firm.

The other side

Every contribution and expenditure on this page was reported to the state and is public. That is how the Hive found it.
Companies of every kind give to Utah campaigns. Lumen and Micron gave to Democrats and Republicans alike.
Torus makes energy storage for utilities, data centers and industry. A company giving to a sitting governor is legal, and the records don't say why it gives.

Where these companies are in Utah

Pins are at the addresses in the companies' filings or the Salt Lake Tribune's data center map. Dell's PAC files from Washington, D.C.

People in this record

Gov. Spencer CoxReceived every Torus check ($201,042), $25,000 from Oracle, Dell's $10,000, $24,000 from Lumen and Micron's largest 2020 check.

Attorney General Derek BrownReceived $10,000 from Oracle in 2025 and $5,000 from Microsoft's PAC in 2024. Registered Facebook lobbyist 2017–2023; named a Lincoln Hill Partners principal in 2021.

Sen. Tami Tran (SD-6)Meta's PAC spent $152,503 on her primary. SD-6 case file →

Rep. Logan Monson (HD-69)Meta's PAC spent $98,943 on his primary. He sits on the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee. Committee page →

Dan HemmertMIDA executive director since 2026; former HEMMCO lobbyist (clients listed include Meta and MIDA); former GOED executive director and state senator. Stratos pages →

Josh AlthouseMeta public policy director; chair of Meta's Utah PAC, Forge the Future Project.

Questions to ask, and whom to ask

Your state legislators

Have you received money from data center companies or the companies that power them, and did it come before or after votes on data center bills?

Gov. Spencer Cox's campaign

Every Torus contribution on record, $201,042 since 2022, has gone to your campaign. Does Torus have any contract, grant or matter before the state, and how is that handled?

Lt. Governor's Office (elections)

Should outside spending like Meta's show up on the candidate's own disclosure page, so voters see it in one place?

Candidates in 2026 races

Will you list on your website every company that spent money to help you, including outside spending?

Sources and how they were read

Utah campaign finance disclosures (disclosures.utah.gov), contributor searches by company name for each year 2018–2026, as pulled and shared by the Hive in September 2026. Micron and Lumen totals combine every spelling of each company's name; unrelated names caught by the same search words were left out.
Forge the Future Project (Meta's Utah PAC): Statement of Organization and 2026 Primary Report, disclosures.utah.gov.
Torus, Inc. contributions 2022–2026, disclosures.utah.gov; company description from Business Wire, Sept. 9, 2025.
Dell Technologies Inc PAC, 2024 report and PAC page, disclosures.utah.gov.
Lumen data center locations: Salt Lake Tribune, "Utah data center map," Sept. 25, 2026.
HEMMCO LLC lobbyist registration (client begin and end dates), lobbyist.utah.gov, as obtained Sept. 3, 2026; Dan Hemmert's LinkedIn profile and HEMMCO's website client lists; MIDA board minutes, Aug. 20, 2026 (Resolution 2026-12); Salt Lake Tribune, June 26, 2026.
Utah Tech PAC 2017 report (DEX export), disclosures.utah.gov.
Meta lobbyist registrations: lobbyist.utah.gov, search "meta," 12 records, as pasted Oct. 3, 2026 (unrelated names such as Tintic Consolidated Metals and OneMeta AI left out). Lincoln Hill Partners merger announcement, Oct. 4, 2021; Shurtz and Hill registrations for O'Leary Ventures; Salt Lake Tribune, May 19, 2026.
Facebook lobbyist registrations: lobbyist.utah.gov, search "facebook," 5 records, as pasted Oct. 3, 2026. CenturyLink: search "centurylink," 6 records, same date. Qwest (an older Lumen name): no records. Micron: search "micron," 7 records, same date. Torus: search "torus," 1 record, same date. Dell: search "dell," no Dell records. Amazon: search "amazon," 5 records, same date. Google: search "google," 38 records, same date. Google, Oracle, Amazon, Creekstone and Microsoft contributions: disclosures.utah.gov contributor searches "google," "oracle," "amazon," "creekstone" and "microsoft," and a "qts" search that found no QTS contributions, each year 2018–2026, as pasted Oct. 3, 2026. Salt Lake Tribune, "Should Utah ban lobbyists?" Feb. 22, 2022 (Austin Cox).
Lumen lobbyist registrations: lobbyist.utah.gov, "Lobbyist lookup by Principal Organization," search "lumen," 4 records, as pasted Oct. 3, 2026.
Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee minutes, Feb. 14, 2020 (S.B. 114 vote).