World’s largest data center campus could be coming to central Utah

DELTA — The world’s largest data center campus may be coming to Utah, with a pair of companies planning to construct artificial intelligence-ready hubs in Millard County.

The first domino fell when Orem-based Fibernet MercuryDelta LLC in May filed a request to rezone nearly 1,200 acres of property — located southeast of Delta — from agricultural land to heavy industrial land for its potential 20-million-square-foot data center campus called Delta Gigasite.

Its size would easily position it as the world’s largest data center campus, coming in well ahead of Hohhot, China’s Telecom Inner Mongolia Information Park, which covers over 10 million square feet.

The Millard County Commission voted in favor of the rezoning request, following the planning commission’s May recommendation.

 

The developments

 

The effort to build what’s being billed as the “world’s most powerful data center campus” took another step forward in early August when Creekstone Energy LLC signed an agreement with Murray-based BlueSky AI to provide the company 25 acres of land and up to 50 megawatts of energy for modular data centers on the campus.

A release from Creekstone Energy said that over the coming decade, the company plans to manage 10 gigawatts of capacity at the site from three primary sources, drawing 1.8 gigawatts from the Intermountain Power Project, 6 gigawatts from solar and 2 gigawatts from natural gas while also considering geothermal, wind and nuclear as potential future additions.

Additionally, Creekstone said the 50 megawatt agreement with BlueSky AI only represents half the capacity of one planned data hall out of 26 at the campus’ full build-out.

Creekstone Energy is a branch of the larger Creekstone Capital investment firm, with Buford Ray Conley serving as the head of both entities as founder and CEO. Conley also co-founded Fibernet MercuryDelta alongside Lane Livingston.

“This isn’t just a land deal; it’s a sign that Utah is ready to lead,” Conley said in a statement. “BluSky’s technology fits perfectly with our vision: fast, flexible, and energy-smart. We’re building something big here, and it starts now.”

Following Creekstone Energy and BlueSky AI’s announcements, the Millard County Commission last week approved another data center land rezoning request, converting an approximately 4,000-acre land parcel currently belonging to Triple C Farms — located at 11000 N. McCornick Road — from agricultural use to heavy industrial use.

While this zoning approval — which is not related to the Creekstone campus — was approved, a conditional use permit will also be required for Joule Capital Partners to commence construction.

Mark McDougal, a partner of Joule Capital Partners and part owner of Triple C Farms, said the project will begin construction and house tenants as early as 2026.

“This project is actually on the farm that my family and I have been farming for the last two decades. Our hope is that we can … integrate with the local populations. We want to be neighbors,” McDougal said during the commission’s Aug. 5 meeting.

Joule Capital Partners’ website says that it will “soon be unveiling the High Performance Compute Data Center Campus of the future in Utah,” but it wasn’t specified which facility this refers to.

The website also says that it “is laying the foundation to bring multiple gigawatts of capacity to Utah, with critical elements” such as access to six major long-haul fiber routes and water cooling capabilities.

As for Conley and Creekstone, the company believes the Delta site offers a “rare combination” of energy resources needed to power a multiple-gigawatt-scale campus along with world-class fiber connectivity.

“We’re building a future where intelligence is manufactured with unprecedented speed and scale — by uniting a power plant and a supercomputer into one,” Conley said in a statement. “This is the base layer of AI — the foundational infrastructure that will determine who wins the AI race. This isn’t just business — it’s national security.”

 

Legislative skepticism?

 

But some of Utah’s political players are less enthusiastic about the idea of a data center campus of Delta Gigasite’s magnitude making its home in the Beehive State.

Utah Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Salt Lake City, told KSL.com he remembered hearing about Fibernet MercuryDelta’s initial pitch to construct the campus during a May 2024 Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Interim Committee meeting.

“It sounded very snake oily,” Blouin said. “It sounded like there was a desire to get state incentives and that sort of thing. It was kind of frustrating to hear them come and think that the state would just step in and do something along those lines. If I remember correctly, it was received with a healthy dose of skepticism by the committee.”

As for the Intermountain Power Project, California’s mandate to not burn coal led to a huge shift in the operation of the plant in Utah, moving to natural gas and a blend of hydrogen.

Not wanting to let a political subdivision of Utah that is occupying land using Utah water to abandon coal-fired power units that can generate an installed capacity of up to 1,900 megawatts of power, Utah lawmakers earlier this year passed last-minute legislation to allow IPP’s two coal units to continue operating if a buyer can be found.

Though Creekstone says it’s open to solar, geothermal, wind and nuclear to supply the campus with energy, it’s also hoping to harness the IPP’s coal-fired units.

“While the future of IPP has yet to be determined, Creekstone continues to focus on utilizing the IPP coal-fired units to support the Delta Gigasite’s expansion and has regular discussions with relevant state authorities,” the company told KSL.com

Blouin sees continuing to use the coal-fired units as a mistake.

“Many members of the Legislature have stepped in and tried to push this narrative that we can’t close that plant because it impacts reliability, and that’s just a lie,” Blouin said. “That plan has nothing to do with the reliability of Utah’s energy grid, and to hear it proposed as a source of energy for data centers just reaffirms that, because if we’re putting in new data centers and the power is all going to be dedicated to those data centers, it does not have a positive or negative impact on reliability in Utah.”

 

What about economic impact?

 

With Creekstone’s zoning proposal and conditional use permit receiving unanimous approval from the Millard County Commission, the energy company is touting strong local backing for what it says is a project expected to bring substantial tax revenue to the area, along with preserving existing jobs and creating new employment opportunities in Delta.

At the commission’s Aug. 5 meeting that saw 4,000 acres of land rezoned to make way for Joule’s data center campus, the development was presented as a multibillion-dollar project that is expected to bring in billions more in revenue, barring the result of the conditional use permit.

Speaking at that same meeting, Millard County resident Ron Larson said he’s in support of data centers coming to the county.

“I think it’s going to provide a profound positive impact … to Millard County. It’s going to help us maintain and manage our resources more appropriately, with better avenues to help us do that. The area is going to grow. There’s just no ands, ifs or buts about it,” Larson said.

Conversely, local rancher J.B. Lovell said he’s concerned that major data center developments could impact his way of life.

“My favorite thing about ranch life is the simplicity it brings. Living out here in the country, away from the noise and the rush, gives me a sense of peace and grounding that’s hard to find anywhere else. I’ve been there all my life, and I’ve enjoyed it the way it is. I’d hate to see it change,” Lovell said.

Blouin said he sees the projects as a “pitch for a whole lot of economic development in a way that I don’t think has gotten a whole lot of oversight.”

 

Water and energy

 

With Creekstone billing its data center campus as the world’s most powerful (and biggest) AI-ready campus, energy is an area of focus for the company, given that data centers — the driving force behind AI — require a substantial amount of both energy and water to operate efficiently.

Creekstone says it’s planning to leverage over 30,000 acres of solar-ready land for gigawatt-scale renewable potential directly connected to the campus load.

Additionally, the company says the campus will be engineered from the ground up for AI and high-performance computing through direct-to-chip and advanced heat exchangers to support thousands of graphics processing units in tight proximity and on-site generation and adaptive cooling that respond “within seconds” to fluctuating AI training loads.

“Many operators have designed closed-loop cooling systems that use various fluids instead of water. When powered with natural gas, this system is net water-positive — it can actually generate about 100 acre feet of new water per 100 megawatts annually. It’s more efficient, more sustainable, and better for the community,” reads a release from Creekstone.

Even given Utah’s high-desert ecosystem, Blouin said he’s more concerned with the energy aspect of data centers than the water aspect.

“I think there are ways to figure out the water picture. I think it’s the energy. There’s no substitute for just using and consuming energy. And as we hear … discussions all over the place about the need to build new energy, I think that’s where I run into some problems as to how this is being approached,” Blouin said.

Regardless of what happens regarding Joule’s data center campus, it appears — at least for now — that Millard County is positioned to become Utah’s new data center hub.

 

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