Water permit application for Stratos data center expected to be filed 'shortly'

SALT LAKE CITY — A self-imposed timeline for the Stratos data center in Box Elder County has come and gone with few new details about the project.

Despite the project receiving approval from Utah's Military Installation Development Authority and the Box Elder County Commission, little information has been made public about factors that could have a major impact, including how much water the data center will use.

It's information Utahns have been waiting on for months.

When KSL Investigators spoke with developer Kevin O'Leary on July 1, he said details about water demand would be included in a water permit application expected to be publicly available by the end of August.

"All that stuff is going to be put forward in the August proposal in terms of what the water demand is going to be," O'Leary said when asked for details. "I'd rather just wait until the design and the application's put forward."

With that timeline having come and gone, KSL Investigators reached out to ask about the status of the application.

In an emailed statement this week, Paul Palandjian, the chief executive officer of O'Leary Digital and co-founder of the business along with Kevin O'Leary, wrote: "To be clear, the water permit application isn't delayed. The timing Kevin shared in July was an estimate based on early input from our consultants. As the work progressed, we chose to go further than a standard application requires."

Palandjian said the application will include detailed hydrological studies and engineering analysis for water treatment and recycling.

"That is a significant body of work," he wrote. "We believe it's the right approach for Utah, and it gives regulators and the community a more complete picture."

As for when the application will be filed, Palandjian said on Tuesday that it is complete, in final review, and will be submitted "shortly."

The Utah Division of Water Rights told KSL it had not received the application as of Wednesday.

The KSL Investigators will continue following the project and report on the contents of the application once it becomes public.

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