Utah data centers promise jobs and tax breaks, but locals question the gains

University of Southern California researcher Shon Hiatt testified that investor-owned utilities like Rocky Mountain Power have managed to take on data-center loads without shifting costs to other customers, though he warned that larger, newer facilities could affect wholesale power prices. A University of Utah analysis describes a "boomerang effect" where the initial construction of a data center expands the tax base and lowers rates for existing residents, but the rapid depreciation of servers and chips forces the certified tax rate to rise again, creating volatility especially in sparsely populated counties.

State officials, represented by Lance Soffe of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, forecast $344 million in state revenue and 106 full-time jobs averaging $160,000 for the upcoming Creekstone Energy Project in Millard County, emphasizing local hiring and post-performance tax rebates of up to 50 cents per dollar in rural areas. Opponents such as Brenna Williams, a co-founder of the Box Elder Accountability Referendum, argue that the promised economic gains are uncertain and that electricity bills may increase, especially where non-investor-owned utilities operate. The discussion highlights how the impact of data centers depends on the utility provider, the size of the county’s tax base, and the flexibility of state policy to adapt to emerging technology.