Developer Proposes 1.5GW Data Center Campus in Rural Utah
April 7, 2026
A major data center development proposed for a rural region of Utah highlights the industry's continued push for new, scalable locations with access to significant power resources. The project, if realized, would mark a substantial geographical diversification for the state's digital infrastructure, which is currently concentrated near Salt Lake City.
The proposal for the 'Antelope Data Center' was formally reviewed by the Iron County Planning Commission last Thursday. Backed by developer Pronghorn Development, LLC, the early-stage discussion aimed to address preliminary questions about the project, with no official actions or public hearings taking place at the meeting. According to county documents, the campus would span 640 acres and, at full buildout, comprise five buildings totaling approximately 1.35 million square feet. A key feature of the plan is an on-site natural gas power plant capable of delivering up to 1.5 gigawatts of capacity.
The proposed site is located along Antelope Spring Road, roughly 7.8 miles west of Cedar City, the largest city in Iron County which sits in Utah's southwestern corner near the Nevada border. The developer plans to use a closed-loop cooling system for the facility. Iron County estimates the project could create 670 direct jobs in IT, engineering, facility management, and administrative roles.
The scale of the Antelope Data Center proposal underscores the immense power and land requirements of modern computing, particularly for AI and hyperscale workloads. Its location in Iron County represents a strategic move to access available land and energy resources outside of saturated urban markets. However, the project remains in its earliest phases, with no approvals secured, indicating that local regulatory review and potential community engagement will be critical next steps.
Source: datacenterdynamics
