Salt Lake County will not consider new data center projects in its unincorporated areas until staff finishes writing regulations, a process the county expects to wrap up by mid-February.

The Salt Lake County Council voted unanimously in September to adopt a resolution directing staff to develop the new rules, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. The pause covers the Oquirrh foothills, the Cottonwood Canyons and a strip of land northeast of the airport near the Great Salt Lake. Any new projects pitched during the pause would have to follow whatever regulations emerge.

Millcreek, as an incorporated city, is not directly covered by the county's moratorium. But the action signals how the region's most populous county plans to handle an industry that is growing fast across Utah.

A statewide pattern

Salt Lake County is not alone. At least three other Utah counties have imposed moratoriums or adopted new data center rules this year.

Cache County passed a 180-day moratorium on June 23, halting all data center applications on unincorporated land while staff drafts permanent code, the Tribune reported. Iron County took a different path, adopting a Strategic Development Zone overlay on Oct. 26 that requires extra review and a development agreement for data centers with 50 megawatts or more of anticipated computing load, according to RedSign. Iron County then lifted its own moratorium nearly four weeks early.

Grand County commissioners unanimously approved spending up to $5,000 on Nov. 4 for Sunrise Engineering to draft rules exploring two options: prohibiting data centers to the extent state law allows, or allowing smaller facilities, the Tribune reported. Grand County's 180-day moratorium, approved July 7, expires Jan. 3.

What Salt Lake County is weighing

The Salt Lake County resolution calls on staff to evaluate all land-use options available under state law, including conditional use permit requirements and utility consumption limits. After public hearings and review by the county's mountainous planning commission and its main planning commission, the County Council plans to review the ordinance by mid-February.

Salt Lake County Council member Natalie Pinkney said the process would include both planning commissions and the public.

Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said in a statement that the pause gives staff time to catch up with the pace of construction. She said the county will continue to advocate for responsible growth.

State lawmakers tighten oversight

Utah has 48 operational data centers with more than 920 megawatts of capacity, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, as cited on the Utah House of Representatives website. Seven projects under construction are expected to add about 2,600 megawatts.

The Legislature passed two data center bills in 2026. HB 76, the Data Center Water Transparency Amendments, requires new large data centers to report water information to the state before construction and annually after operations begin. HB 507 generally prohibits local governments from providing incentives to large data centers outside of a Regionally Significant Development Zone and caps property tax incentives at 60% of new county revenue from a project.

House Speaker Mike Schultz said lawmakers want a clearer picture of the right scale for data center development in Utah and its potential impacts.

What comes next

Salt Lake County staff is expected to present draft regulations for planning commission review ahead of the mid-February County Council deadline. Grand County's consultant, Sunrise Engineering, is expected to deliver draft options within two weeks of the Nov. 4 vote, according to county spokesperson Melisa Jeffers. Public hearings and commission review will follow in Grand County, though no dates had been set as of Nov. 5.