- Santaquin residents are divided over a proposed data center due to environmental concerns.
- The facility is expected to generate $3 million in annual revenue and 100 new jobs, according to city leaders.
- Critics argue the city lacked transparency while officials cite future benefits for the city.
SANTAQUIN — A debate is intensifying in Santaquin over a future data center, as some residents say they're concerned about water and gas usage while some believe it could be a beneficial revenue source for the city.
In October 2024, the Santaquin City Council voted in favor of amending land use for its commercial light manufacturing zone, thus opening the door for a data center. Site plans were approved in 2025.
The Summit Ridge Data Center is anticipated to be constructed on the south end of the city, just off the I-15 Summit Ridge Parkway exit.
The developers, Orem-based Data Center Power Company, have not publicly announced when construction may begin.
Developers said the data center will not be connected to the city's electric grid, it will use a series of smaller engines to power itself using natural gas, and it will have low water and sewer usage, according to Santaquin Mayor Dan Olson.
Olson said he too was initially skeptical about the project, and it likely would have been rejected by the council. But after developers addressed the city's concerns about water requirements and other worries, the City Council had a change of heart.
"The other thing this brings is up to 100 new jobs, six-figure jobs in Santaquin," he said.
Although developers have yet to even break ground on the new facility, Olson said the city stands to see an economic bump, as it's expected to generate more than $3 million annually in sales tax revenue, once the Summit Ridge Data Center is up and operating.
Like other cities in Utah County, Santaquin is also experiencing growing pains.
The municipality was named among the fastest growing cities in Utah for 2024, with a population increase of 4.1%, according to a Census Bureau report from May 2025.
With a rising number of residents, Olson said the revenue boost could help fund additional city services.
"We need another fire station because from corner to corner, our city, it's 8 miles across it, and we need response times to save lives," he told KSL Tuesday. "If somebody has a heart attack, we need to be there in less than four minutes to make sure that we have a chance to save them."
Residents rally in opposition
Just before Tuesday evening's City Council meeting, residents gathered outside of Santaquin City Hall to rally against the future data center. The demonstration was organized by resident Kelsy Trane, who also created a petition calling for city leaders to reconsider the measure.
Trane said one of the issues she has is where the future data center is expected to be built, which is near the Sunroc gravel pit — an area within close proximity to neighboring homes.
"There's a ton of houses just right up on the ridge, and there's townhouses that are even closer and a city park where like all of our children play soccer and everything else," she said.
With that in mind, Trane worries that a facility such as a data center would add pollution to the air.
"With Santaquin and just Utah in general already having such high pollution, we find that this is not a good placement for this specific center," she told KSL.
Trane said she created a Change.org petition in opposition of the future facility last week, which has amassed more than 1,350 signatures as of Tuesday.
Others at the council meeting questioned the city's transparency about the project.
"My biggest question was, if this was such a great idea, why did nobody know about it, except you guys? Did the idea of free money distract you from all the negatives?" Steven Johnson asked.
Trane, Johnson and some others who spoke during the public comment forum said they didn't feel that the city did enough to inform residents before the proposed project was approved.
Olson addressed those claims, stating that several previous public hearings were held regarding the property and the proposed data center
"Nobody showed up," he said. "There were posted meetings, everything for state code, and we never had a soul that even wanted to come out until somebody had found bad information on data centers."
Trane argued that those postings weren't clear about a data center being considered.
Encouraging civility
Despite the pushback, not everyone on Tuesday spoke against having a data center in Santaquin.
Resident Calvin Davis noted the responsibility of elected officials in managing growth, infrastructure, and taxes. He also seemingly agreed with the mayor regarding the need for additional city services in Santaquin to accommodate growth — while encouraging fellow residents to ease up on negative dialogue online.
"To those who oppose the data center, I ask that we tone down the rhetoric and avoid the mudslinging directed at our public officials," he said. "Let the facts speak for themselves. Let's work together to make Santaquin a community where people want to live, grow and raise their families."
Former Santaquin Mayor Keith Broadhead also defended current city officials against some online comments that claim the public wasn't made aware of the pending project.
"I've been following this data center for the last couple of years, I've known it was coming — it's not hard to find out," he said.
Despite the back and forth dialogue between those at City Council meetings, or in the Santaquin Community Facebook page comments section, the city appears — at some point — poised to move forward with the project.
KSL reached out to the developers of the Summit Ridge Data Center for additional details about project and an estimated timeline for construction but has not received a response.
