O'Leary Ventures cuts Utah data center job estimate as Wonder Valley tax deal nears

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O'Leary Utah data center job cuts

Highlights

O'Leary Ventures reduced Wonder Valley's estimated construction jobs to about 4,000 over 10–15 years, down from Kevin O'Leary's previous 10,000 figure.
Draft tax incentives for the 40,000-acre Utah site include a 100% personal property tax rebate and 80% real property tax rebate for up to 30 years, with no set job minimum.
Local opposition escalates as Box Elder County residents file two referendums against the project, driven by concerns over water use, air quality, and transparency.

Revised employment outlook and project scale

As first reported by Business Insider, O'Leary Ventures CEO Paul Palandjian says the Wonder Valley development's construction employment is currently estimated at about 4,000 jobs over 10 to 15 years, down from the 10,000 jobs Kevin O'Leary has publicly cited. Palandjian says the figures remain fluid and reflect the company's current thinking on the project.

Wonder Valley, a proposed combined data center and power plant in Utah, has the potential to reach 9 gigawatts of capacity if fully built. That would place it among the world's largest data center developments, but whether it reaches that scale remains uncertain because the project does not yet have a tenant. Palandjian says O'Leary Ventures is in very early talks with multiple large technology companies.

The outlook for permanent employment also appears less certain than public claims suggest. O'Leary has said the project will create 2,000 permanent roles, but research cited from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business indicates large data centers typically see a steep drop in on-site staffing once construction ends. Using that formula, a more likely estimate for permanent jobs at Wonder Valley is about 1,350, although a project FAQ on Utah Governor Spencer Cox's website says the developer has committed to a projected 2,000 permanent jobs for county residents.

Tax incentives, approvals and local opposition

A final development agreement for the site is still under negotiation and is expected to be signed in the next month or so, according to an email from a spokesperson for Utah's Military Installation Development Authority, the state agency backing the broader 40,000-acre zone. A draft agreement dated April 24 on MIDA's website shows the data center could receive several tax breaks, including a 100% personal property tax rebate and an 80% real property tax rebate for up to 30 years.

The draft agreement does not set a required minimum number of jobs. That matters because Utah offers tax breaks to data centers without a job-creation requirement, limiting the extent to which employment targets are tied to the incentive package.

The proposal is also drawing intense resistance in Box Elder County, where residents cite concerns about water use, air quality and transparency from local officials. County residents file two referendums on Monday seeking to overturn local approval of the site, while O'Leary rejects the criticism and argues opponents are relying on misconceptions about data centers.

Our earlier report on the Bureau of Land Management’s rescission of the Biden-era Public Lands Rule explained that the move could expand access to federal lands across rural and Western communities. We noted that supporters expect the rollback to support local economies and agriculture, while signaling a broader shift in federal priorities on how public land is managed and used.

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