Stratos backlash leaves Gov. Cox, lawmakers open to more data center oversight

Artificial intelligence data centers have been a hot topic in Utah this summer, and reforms could be on the way. Gov. Spencer Cox told reporters at his Aug. 20 monthly news conference to expect efforts to change the approval process and additional regulation for data centers when lawmakers return to Capitol Hill in January. Central to that move toward reform, he said, was the contentious Stratos Project in Box Elder County, which experienced incredible public pushback earlier this year. “The process was not good, and the MIDA process, especially,” he said. “I think we need major reform when it comes...