- United States
- Utah
- Letter
The apology is noted, but an apology isn't accountability. The only way you could have done better is if you had informed Utahns months and months ago, allowing us to express our dissatisfied opinions about the Stratos Project and data centers in general. Instead, thousands of us found out about a 40,000-acre development — one that would consume double the entire state's current energy output — after the MIDA approval process was already well underway. That's not an oversight. That's a failure of governance.
The new commitments on phased development, water transparency, and Great Salt Lake protections are a start, but they only exist because the public forced your hand. Box Elder County commissioners received death threats. A MIDA board member's business was targeted. That's what happens when communities feel shut out of decisions that reshape their land, their water, and their future. Real accountability means building public engagement into the process from day one — not issuing promises after the backlash peaks. I want to see a formal, binding public comment process required before any Phase 2 approvals move forward.