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Developers present to the public plans for a new data center on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Santaquin.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Developers present to the public plans for a new data center on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Santaquin.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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The land where a new data center is slated to be built is pictured Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Santaquin.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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A public forum was held at Santaquin City Hall on Thursday in an effort to bridge the gap between city officials and residents over a perceived lack of transparency regarding a developer’s plan to build a data center in the south part of town.

By invitation of Mayor Dan Olson, developers from Data Center Power Company, or DCPC, who intend to construct the “Summit Ridge Data Center” near Interstate 15 at exit 242 and the Sunroc gravel pit, spoke to residents about what to expect when the new facility is built.

The plan has been in motion since October 2024, when the Santaquin City Council unanimously approved a measure to amend land use in the “commercial light manufacturing zone” to allow for a data center. Olson said that despite it being brought up a number of times in public meetings, there has not been much public feedback on the project until recently.

“Nobody came to the meetings, and then there was a rumbling on Facebook. And everything you read on Facebook and the internet is true — hardly, if ever,” Olson said.

Many residents, however, feel they were left out of the democratic process by not hearing about the plans until it was too late and that greater effort should have been made to notify the public of the proposal.

“A lot of us feel pretty blindsided, because the first time any of us really heard about it was on a Facebook post by somebody in the City Council saying, ‘Hey guys, this data center is going in. If you have questions, come to City Council,'” Santaquin resident Catelyn Hannifin said. “But basically they’re like, ‘it’s a done deal. This is happening, whether you like it or not.'”

Olson said he had been looking for businesses to come into town to increase revenue, but when he was originally approached by the data company, he told them no, believing they would use too much power and water.

He said he changed his tune, though, upon seeing a thorough evaluation. Developers say the facility will not be connected to the electric grid but will power itself using natural gas and that it will have low water use.

The facility will also give an economic boost to the city as it is projected to generate $3.7 million in sales tax revenue for 2026. DCPC estimates that, upon completion, the data center will bring an additional $2,452,263 in annual revenue.

“We’re looking at sales tax, we’re looking at franchise tax and, of course, there’s property tax,” Olson said regarding the money the new center would bring to the city. “That lessens us going back to the homeowners and saying, ‘We need to raise taxes,’ because I don’t want to raise taxes.”

One of the main concerns brought up in Thursday’s public forum was the environmental effect and the overall impact the facility would have on air quality. Some cited harmful chemicals being released from generators, such as nitrogen dioxide.

“You’re telling me a fat data center is not going to emit (toxins) enough to give me cancer or to be detrimental to my health or to my children’s health, my growing children?” Santaquin resident Karen Gannaway said. “I moved to the country to be in a rural area where there are orchards, where there’s air to breathe and not have those concerns, and now those concerns are coming to the front door.”

Robert Sumision, DCPC’s vice president of business development, said that the company has worked with the city and state to ensure it meets environmental guidelines.

“I think a lot of people assume that a data center is a big, nasty thing,” he said. “With our technology and some of the resources we will be using here on site, (environmental effects) should not be an issue. Your children will be safe to walk by it. It’s no different than walking past a commercial district, a Walmart.”

One Santaquin resident, who asked not to be named, said the public forum served as personal reassurance that he is OK with the data center coming to the community.

“There’s already one that exists in West Jordan that does the same exact type of thing that’s next to residential areas, where here it’s not going to be,” he said. “I think most of it reaffirmed that I’m not concerned for me or my kids for it to come next to my community.”

Sumision said the facility is still in the early stages of planning and that there is not an official start date for construction.

There is also an ongoing lawsuit involving the property. DCPC CEO Jonathan Jensen is one of three defendants listed in a specific performance lawsuit filed in the 4th District Court in August 2025 by JJMC Development, an entity that claims it has a contractual right to purchase the land where the data center is proposed.