A Community Benefit Agreement for Data Centers

Water Rights: Mandating Closed-Loop Cooling & Prioritizing Aquifers. Utah is the second-driest state in the nation, and our power grid and water resources are under pressure. I will champion a ban on open-loop evaporative cooling that drains municipal drinking water or underground basins for new large-scale data centers — direct-to-chip, closed-loop, or dry cooling must be the required baseline. I also support tiered water surcharges and moratorium triggers, empowering the State Engineer and local conservation districts to mandate automatic operational curtailments when regional groundwater tables or reservoirs hit critical drought thresholds.

Ratepayer Protection: 100% Developer-Funded Infrastructure. Every new substation, transmission line, or dedicated water pipeline required by a data center should be paid for entirely by the company — not socialized across residential utility bills. I support statutory cost ring-fencing that strengthens the Public Service Commission's mandate to require large-load customers to post 100% upfront financial collateral, decommissioning bonds, and pay dedicated industrial tariffs, so families never see their power rates climb to subsidize server farms.

Quality of Life: Dual-Frequency Decibel Noise Caps. Standard city decibel ordinances only measure higher-frequency sounds (dBA), ignoring the low-frequency hum (dBC) produced by cooling chillers and massive transformers that vibrates through home walls miles away. I will push for statewide siting and sound standards that cap property-line sound in both dBA and dBC, plus statutory minimum buffer distances of at least 1,000 feet between high-density server halls or outdoor generator yards and any existing residential or agricultural zone.

Taxpayer Accountability: Mandatory Job & Wage Clawbacks. No more rubber-stamping 50-year tax abatements for server warehouses that only employ 25 people. I support performance-based development agreements requiring automatic clawback provisions for any state or local tax incentive — if a developer fails to meet verified permanent W-2 job targets and wage baselines, they must repay retroactive tax benefits with interest to local school districts and county general funds.

Clean Air & Emergency Generator Limits. Our valleys already fight inversion and air quality challenges, and we cannot let corporate campuses install unmonitored diesel generator arrays. I will direct the Division of Air Quality toward permitting and grid restrictions that limit diesel generator testing to low-ozone, non-inversion days, with strict annual run-time caps and a mandatory transition toward clean battery storage for emergency backup.