Stratos isn't just a private project. The state of Utah is the sponsor.
Stratos sits inside a proposed MIDA Project Area. MIDA is a Utah state authority. If Box Elder County grants consent, MIDA replaces Box Elder County as the land-use authority inside the project area. The companies pitching the project did not invent that pathway; the state legislature created it.
This page covers the governmental side of the story: who sits on MIDA's board, what 2025 statute makes the off-grid power model legal, and which local-tier officials the consent decision actually goes through.
SB 132 (2025): the law that makes the off-grid model legal.
Sen. Scott Sandall, the senator for Box Elder County, was the chief Senate sponsor of SB 132, the 2025 law that lets the Stratos Project bypass Rocky Mountain Power's regulated procurement process for its on-site generation. The senator representing the project's siting county also authored the legal framework on which the project depends.
Stratos's stated power model is on-site, off-grid natural-gas generation through the Ruby Pipeline, sometimes called a "Shadow Grid" or behind-the-meter model. That arrangement is enabled by a 2025 Utah statute that lets very large electricity loads procure power outside Rocky Mountain Power's regulated process.
What the bill does
SB 132 (2025) allows electricity customers with loads greater than 100 megawatts to procure power outside the standard regulated procurement process administered through Rocky Mountain Power and the Utah Public Service Commission. Stratos is described publicly as a 3 GW Phase 1 / 7.5 to 9 GW full-buildout project, well above the 100 MW threshold. The legal framework that allows the JV to generate its own gas-fired power without going through the regulated utility is this statute.
Sponsorship
- Sen. Scott D. Sandall: R-Tremonton, Senate District 1, the senator whose district includes Box Elder County. Chief Senate sponsor of SB 132 (2025).
- Rep. Colin W. Jack: R-St. George. House sponsor of SB 132 (2025).
MIDA: Utah's Military Installation Development Authority.
MIDA is the state body proposing the Stratos Project Area. Once county consent is granted, MIDA becomes the land-use authority inside the area for at least 50 years per public meeting statements. Its board is composed of state legislators, gubernatorial appointees, and local elected officials.
MIDA Board (voting members)
- Sen. J. Stuart Adams: President, Utah State Senate (R, SD 22, Layton); MIDA Board Chair; on the board since 2008. As Senate President, Adams is the highest-ranking member of the Utah Senate.
- Sen. Jerry W. Stevenson: Utah State Senate (R, SD 6); on the MIDA board since 2008.
- Mark Shepherd: Mayor, Clearfield City.
- Gary Harter: Executive Director, Utah Department of Veterans & Military Affairs.
- Karl McMillan: Wasatch County Council, Seat F; appointed January 2025.
- Mike Ostermiller: Partner, Kyler, Kohler, Ostermiller & Sorenson LLP; on the board since 2008.
- Gage Froerer: Weber County Commission; on the board since 2019; former Utah House member.
MIDA Board (non-voting) and executive
- Jeff Moss (non-voting): Executive Director, Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity; appointed November 2025.
- Paul Morris: Executive Director, MIDA. Spoke at the April 22, 2026 Box Elder County Commission meeting on behalf of the project.
What this means in practice
MIDA, not the Box Elder County Commission, will be the land-use authority for permitting, zoning, and project-area decisions inside the boundary if county consent is granted. The MIDA board includes two sitting Utah state senators (Adams as Chair, Stevenson) plus one former state representative (Froerer). The board's structure is the documented institutional connection between the project and Utah state-government leadership.
Box Elder County's vote: who's at the table.
The Stratos consent decision rests with three sitting Box Elder County commissioners. Their official contact information lives at boxeldercountyut.gov/334. To reach out about the project specifically, the canonical county page is boxeldercountyut.gov/641/Stratos-Project.
The three sitting commissioners
- Boyd Bingham: Box Elder County Commissioner.
- Lee Perry: Box Elder County Commissioner. Former Utah House member, HD 29, 2011 to 2020. Perry is the only one of the three with documented prior state-legislative service.
- Tyler Vincent: Box Elder County Commissioner.
Specific seat letters and current chair or vice-chair designations are not published on the county commission page reviewed. See the canonical county pages above for current contact information and meeting schedules.
An adjacent figure: Joel Ferry
Executive Director, Utah Department of Natural Resources. Former Utah House member from Box Elder County. DNR oversees water rights, oil and gas, and the geological survey, all of which are relevant to a project of Stratos's scale. Ferry is not directly named in the public Stratos record reviewed, but is contextually relevant.