Lex Developments Pocatello Data Center

Permits

Permits checklist

2 denied · 1 pending · 1 checked, nothing on file

Approvals a campus like this normally needs, and what we found.

✕
Conditional use permit Denied
City of Pocatello Hearing Examiner · May 19, 2026: found inadequate on three of seven criteria: public facilities, environmental impact, and health and welfare (press) Local government · May 2026
✕
Appeal of the denial Denied
Pocatello City Council · July 16, 2026: denial affirmed 4 to 1 Local government · July 2026
◷
Request for reconsideration Pending
Pocatello City Council · July 29, 2026: filed to exhaust administrative remedies; judicial review reserved (press) News report · July 2026
–
Checked, nothing on file: Air permit for gas turbines

Risks

Why it stopped, what could revive it

High
Entitlement denied
Both the Hearing Examiner and the City Council refused the permit, and no new application has been filed. Local government · July 2026
Medium
Court challenge possible
Lex has reserved the right to seek judicial review, so the denial could still be contested (press). see Permits
Medium
Community and tribal opposition
Hundreds of residents attended the first hearing, and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes opposed the plan (press). News report · July 2026
Medium
No power plan on record
No Idaho Power agreement or air permit for the proposed interim gas turbines was found. see Permits

Power

Power and the grid

None energized or contracted yet

Idaho Power grid serviceProposed, study pending

100 MW

up to 100 MW per the application; the utility's study had not reported; no service agreement or regulator filing found News report · May 2026

Proposed

Other sources, size not disclosed

Interim gas turbines Proposed, no air permit found
proposed to run while the site waited for grid capacity; size not stated; no state air permit found News report · Oct. 2026

Getting on the grid

Who supplies what, what it costs, and what is still not public.

May 16, 2026
Utility study still pending
The developer says the scale and design of the facility depend on an Idaho Power study that had not reported. News report · May 2026

Timeline

What happened, and what is due

SitePaper trailConstructionPowerPermitsMoneyLegalUpcoming

May 14, 2026
Permits Hearing Examiner holds a standing-room-only public hearing on the conditional use permit Local government · May 2026
May 16, 2026
Power Developer says an Idaho Power study will set the scale of the facility; the utility application cites up to 100 MW News report · May 2026
May 19, 2026
Permits Hearing Examiner issues a written denial Local government · May 2026
June 1, 2026
Permits Lex Developments appeals the denial and asks for reconsideration Local government · June 2026
July 16, 2026
Permits City Council votes 4 to 1 to uphold the denial Local government · July 2026
July 29, 2026
Legal Lex files a reconsideration request alleging due-process defects and reserves the right to seek judicial review (press) News report · July 2026
Aug. 5, 2026
Permits Bannock County sets a 180-day data-center moratorium for unincorporated land; it does not cover this site inside city limits (press) News report · Aug. 2026

Who is involved

Owners, partners and builders

Owners

Lex Developments LLC and Gus Schultz: applicants
Portneuf Capital LLC: owner of the former Hoku site (press)

Decision-makers

Pocatello Hearing Examiner and City Council: denied the permit and the appeal

Opponents

Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and local residents (press)

Still unknown

Open questions

Whether Lex will seek judicial review or reapply.
Results of the Idaho Power study and any service agreement.
Any tenant or financing for the project.

Where this comes from

27 records from 6 documents

Drawn from news reports and local government records, each kept with its date and source. The bar shows documents by type.

News report 4Local government 2

Evidence

Every quote behind this page

Grade key: A = the primary record itself (permit, filing, exhibit) · B = a dated official statement · C = news reporting. Map distances are our own measurements on OpenStreetMap and carry no grade. Allegations in lawsuits are marked as such in the quotes.

Power (2)

Power plan: Idaho Power grid capacity awaited (study pending at hearing); interim gas turbines proposed while waiting for grid capacity
“Gas turbines would have been used at the site while it waited for grid capacity.”
News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
Utility service: 100 MW
“In the application, Idaho Power says that the facility would need a capacity of up to 100 MW to function; but in the presentation, the potential data center is identified as having 200 MW.”
News report · May 2026 · grade C

Permits and government (6)

Project status: cancelled (entitlement denied: CUP denied May 19, 2026; appeal denied 4-1 Jul 16, 2026; developer pursuing reconsideration / judicial review)
“On July 16, 2026, the Council heard the appeal as the final item of its regular meeting and voted 4-1 to affirm the Hearing Examiner's denial of the application.”
Local government · July 2026 · grade B
conditional use permit appeal: appeal denied - denial affirmed 4-1
“On July 16, 2026, the Council heard the appeal as the final item of its regular meeting and voted 4-1 to affirm the Hearing Examiner's denial of the application.”
Local government · July 2026 · grade B
Site address: 1800 River Park Way, Pocatello, ID (former Hoku Materials polysilicon factory / River Park Complex)
“for development of a data center in Pocatello's heavy industrial zoning district at the former Hoku plant site, commonly known as 1800 River Park Way”
Local government · June 2026 · grade B
conditional use permit: denied
“issued a written denial on May 19, 2026. Lex Developments timely appealed on June 1, 2026, raising three independent grounds for reversal.”
Local government · May 2026 · grade B
conditional use permit: public hearing held
“The Hearing Examiner conducted a public hearing on May 14, 2026, on the conditional use permit application and issued a written denial on May 19, 2026.”
Local government · May 2026 · grade B
Bannock County set a 180-day data center moratorium for unincorporated county land; it does not affect this project inside Pocatello city limits, but the Hoku controversy likely influenced it.
“The moratorium won't affect a proposed data center project within Pocatello city limits, since city land falls outside the county's jurisdiction.”
News report · Aug. 2026 · grade C

Legal (1)

After the Jul 16 affirmance Lex filed a reconsideration request alleging five due-process defects, made to exhaust administrative remedies, and reserves all rights to seek judicial review - the entitlement remains denied
“the filing was made to exhaust administrative remedies and that Lex Developments "reserves all rights to seek judicial review"”
News report · July 2026 · grade C

Site and other (7)

Developer: Lex Developments (Lex Developments LLC, Gilbert, Arizona)
“This firm represents Applicants Lex Developments LLC and Gus Schultz (together, "Applicant")”
Local government · June 2026 · grade B
Announced: April 28, 2026
“Notice was posted on the subject property and published in the Idaho State Journal on April 28, 2026.”
Local government · April 2026 · grade B
Site area: 59 acres; seven buildings of ~100,000 sq ft each
“Lex Developments was seeking to develop a seven-building campus on 59 acres at 1800 River Park Way, each measuring some 100,000 sq ft (9,290 sqm).”
News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
Landowner: Portneuf Capital LLC (owner of the former Hoku factory site)
“Hoku Materials went into administration in 2013, and the abandoned factory is now owned by Portneuf Capital LLC.”
News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
Former use: Former Hoku Materials polysilicon factory (Hoku went into administration in 2013; plant never entered commercial production)
“Hoku Materials went into administration in 2013”
News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
Pocatello already hosts the FBI's Grey Wolf data center (operating since 2019) - a separate, operating federal facility that is NOT this cancelled Lex project.
“Pocatello has been home to a data center operated by the FBI, known as Grey Wolf, since 2019.”
News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
County code: 16005
“Lex Developments was seeking to build the data center on the site of the former Hoku Materials polysilicon factory in Pocatello, a city in Bannock County, southeast Idaho.”
News report · July 2026 · grade C