Stratos in brief, from the public record
- About 40,000 acres of private land plus about 1,279 acres of military and state land in Hansel Valley, Box Elder County.
- MIDA's board approved the project area unanimously on April 24, 2026.
- Listed at 7.5 gigawatts (Salt Lake Tribune), and 9 gigawatts at full build-out per the Sierra Club.
- Master developer: O'Leary Digital Utah Development Co, LLC. The project is branded “Wonder Valley.”
- MIDA's 0.5% energy tax in the project area begins Oct. 1, 2026 (Ordinance 2026-01).
- A citizen referendum against it is in court.
MIDA's development agreement, interlocal agreement and development standards for Stratos are posted as drafts and are unsigned, according to MIDA's own document page.
The project and MIDA
How Stratos was approved
Who approved it, what the documents say, and who owns land nearby.
Data Centers
“Do You Have The Land?”
MIDA approved the 40,000-acre project in April 2026. The House Speaker's 25,000+ acres sit ten miles away, and a senator's land sits nearby. What the record shows about who knew what, and when.
PIDS-Utah
Stratos, the Ruby Pipeline, and MIDA
How a data center was approved with an energy supply that may not be there yet, and how MIDA's process worked.
Committees
Eight Project Areas
Every MIDA project area side by side. Stratos was created in a single meeting and is about eight times Deer Valley's footprint.
Committees
Eight Project Areas: Scorecard
The same eight MIDA project areas, each graded.
Bill-Tracker
S.B. 337: The One Authority to Rule Them All
After Stratos, Gov. Cox said MIDA had “mission creep” and needed major reform. The bill written to coordinate MIDA and five other authorities.
Taxes and money
What the public gives and gets
The tax breaks Stratos can use, and the jobs and revenue claims.
Data Centers
S.B. 114: The Exemption With No Jobs Requirement
Utah's data center sales tax exemption, with a full section on how it applies to Stratos.
Data Centers
The National Math Behind Utah's Data Center Bets
Stratos's jobs claims (2,000 permanent, with no tenant announced), its plan to house workers on site, and who carries the risk if national demand falls short.
Water and the lake
Water, power and the Great Salt Lake
How much water Stratos's power plants could use, and who holds water rights nearby.
Great-Salt-Lake
Who's Actually Using the Water?
Puts Stratos's modeled power-plant water use, 2 billion to 16.6 billion gallons a year, beside farms, golf courses and other users.
Follow the Deed
The Applicant Holds Those Rights
Speaker Mike Schultz's water rights in Box Elder County, and the open question of how close they sit to Stratos.
Transparency
One Lake, Two Money Pots
The Great Salt Lake trust council, including the lawmaker who sponsored S.B. 132, the bill behind Stratos's private power plants.
Public vote
The referendum that hasn't reached voters
What happened when residents tried to put Stratos to a vote.
Referendum
Two Referendums, Zero Votes
The Box Elder County referendum against Stratos, now in court, and why it hasn't reached the ballot.
Data Centers
Data Center Growth: Policy Choices
The one Aug. 19 hearing presentation that reported Stratos being delayed, and the county moratorium wave around it.
Maps
See it on the map
Stratos pinned alongside everything around it.
Utah Maps · MAP 001
Where Utah's Tax Increment Goes
Data centers, PIDs, MIDA and Inland Port project areas on one map.
Utah Maps · MAP 004
Great Salt Lake Pressures
Data centers, water projects and military project areas around the lake.
Utah Maps · MAP 006
Citizen Referendums
Where Utahns have tried to put local decisions to a vote, including Stratos.
2026 races
Where Stratos comes up in the elections
Candidate case files where Stratos votes, bills or statements are part of the record.
Candidates 2026
SD-7: Hollist vs. Rushforth vs. Ostler
Coverage tied Senate President Stuart Adams's primary loss in part to his MIDA vote on Stratos.
Candidates 2026
SD-5: Koford vs. Hernandez
Koford was House sponsor of three of the four 2026 water bills passed before Stratos was announced.
Candidates 2026
Box Elder Commission Seat A
Vance Smith beat an incumbent who voted for Stratos. What his own reports and disclosure form show.
Candidates 2026
HD-16: Stevenson vs. Treasure
Abigail Treasure's campaign site carries a standalone statement on Stratos.
Candidates 2026
HD-6: Bishop vs. Rich
No public statement by Rep. Rob Bishop on Stratos was found in news coverage.