The NSA said in budget documents that after that first phase, it plans to seek another $800 million in the future to eventually expand operations into a 65-megawatt operation. The agency projects the total construction and outfitting cost of the center over time at $1.93 billion.

In response to Deseret News inquiries, the NSA provided a written statement saying that after "evaluation of several potential data-center locations throughout the United States, Camp Williams in Utah emerged as the best choice of location."

The agency added, "Over the coming months the project-management team will begin the design phase and this will be followed by the issuance of a request for proposal in order to competitively select a developer for the project."

The only description the NSA itself offered of the data center in its statement is that it will be "a specialized facility that houses computer systems and supporting equipment."

Such computer-assisted NSA spy operations for years have been based at Fort George G. Meade, Md., just outside Washington, D.C.

However, the Baltimore Sun reported in 2006 that the operations at Fort Meade had maxed out the electric capacity of the Baltimore area's power grid — and the NSA was then unable to install some new supercomputers for fear of blowing out the electrical infrastructure of the area.

So the agency began looking for ways to decentralize operations. In 2007, it announced plans to build a second data center in San Antonio. The Utah center will now be the NSA's third.

The Camp Williams site is near major electrical power-transmission lines that serve the Wasatch Front and sits on 28,000 acres straddling the border of Utah and Salt Lake counties.

The regional center is the training base to the only military unit of its kind in the world, a linguistics unit 1,200-strong called the 300th Military Intelligence Brigade. About 600 members are from Utah, which McIntire says bolsters its ranks because of the unique population of returned LDS missionaries who can speak another language.

Camp Williams already enjoys a steadfast relationship with other branches of the military, local police and the community in general. Many church groups make use of the barracks and obstacle course for events, and police agencies hold emergency-vehicle training there.

E-mail: lee@desnews.com, amyjoi@desnews.com