Wyoming is a leader in energy and energy technology. For decades, we have powered the nation and answered the call when America needed reliable, essential resources.
Opinion
For generations, the people of this state have mined minerals, produced energy, worked the land and built the infrastructure that has helped fuel the nation. We did it across long distances, through harsh winters and in places where success demanded ingenuity, resilience and neighbors being willing to work together. Wyoming developed its own approach to progress — practical, independent and grounded in respect for the land, private property and local communities. Wyoming isn’t just a place to build. It’s where we work, raise our families, know our neighbors and plan to be for generations.
Today, America once again needs Wyoming to answer the call as our economy and national security become increasingly dependent on technology and growing energy needs. Data centers are becoming essential infrastructure, powering communications, commerce, scientific research, critical services and national defense. Where these facilities are built and how they are powered matter to America’s economic strength and national security.
Wyoming’s abundant energy resources, available land, skilled workforce and experience with major industrial development make us ideal for tech facilities. Data centers require reliable power, creating opportunities for new generation, transmission, storage and energy innovation. They generate market expansions for Wyoming coal, natural gas, uranium, wind and critical minerals while bringing traditional industries and emerging technologies together.
But Wyoming’s experience has also taught us that how we build matters just as much as what we build.
Wyoming Driven Innovation supports data centers designed and built the “Wyoming Way,” with clear expectations, responsible investment, honest communication and lasting benefits for the people who live here and have a stake in Wyoming’s future. We know how to build things that last, while caring for our natural resources and ensuring that neighbors are heard.
We stand for development done the “Wyoming Way,” investing in infrastructure, stewarding our natural resources, respecting private property rights and working with local communities. Wyoming families and existing utility customers should not be left holding the bill for costs created by new data centers.
Our natural resources are critical to our way of life. We defend and fight for our water. We know the value of every drop. Data center developers must pursue efficient, responsible solutions that make growth possible while respecting the state’s water resources, local conditions and existing users.
Wyoming was built by people who value independence and understand the responsibilities that come with it. Property owners should retain the right to make decisions about their land while working to be good neighbors and respecting surrounding properties. Private property rights aren’t an afterthought here. They are part of who we are.
Decisions made in Cheyenne or in a boardroom hundreds of miles away cannot replace local knowledge. Data center developers should show up here and answer questions. They should engage with communities through robust local and state processes. Local voices must be part of shaping local development.
This is also an opportunity to create long-term value that endures long after construction ends. That means commitments tailored to specific communities, quality jobs, tax revenue, workforce training, opportunities for Wyoming businesses and new reasons for our young people to build their futures here.
This is the opportunity before us, to connect Wyoming’s energy heritage with America’s digital future. Done the “Wyoming Way,” data centers can strengthen the industries that have sustained our state, expand opportunities for our communities and help protect the infrastructure on which our nation increasingly depends.
For generations, Wyoming has powered America. With Wyoming values leading the way, we’re ready to power what comes next.
Why would we want these monstrosuties buzzing around all the time and useing all our water, Killing more of our wildlife, and harming the elderly…. common sense tells me we don,t need them !!!
I attended the Google presentation for “the community” in Cheyenne on Sept 9. On stage were several representatives of the company, each with his or her job designation, and each presenting the most positive aspects of water usage (will be drilling to a1500 foot deep aquifer, replenishing that water, and the holding ponds’ placement on the property); the construction of basically the site’s own power plant using carbon capture; the supposedly “refined lighting; the noise mitigation; and the discussion about the approx 130 diesel engines that will be “tested every month, from 5-7 at a time” to make sure that the alternate power source is always ready to deploy in case of an electrical outage. For some reason, until Google held this very scripted presentation, it’d been somewhat of a secret that they were going to be building here.
The same kind of reassurances were expressed and very similar to the Microsoft presentation at LCCC, approx a couple of months ago. “We want to be good neighbors, we will add many good paying jobs, young people won’t want to leave the state, we will offer many financial positives to the town, county and state…” One thing Google did say, “they do data centers differently.” Not sure how that computes.
On the site map there was a long, wide green line, running behind the houses that will be along this property line with the data center. I had wanted to drive down Terry Ranch Road to see what was described as a huge hill that was being constructed, and to say the least it is a huge hill that sits very close to the houses that border the line. I found the reps from Tall Grass, the company apparently doing the excavation for Google. At that date, the “berm” was about 1/2 mile long, and would end up being 1 mile long when finished. Of course, these homeowners no longer have a clear southern view out of their windows and doors. I asked about what was being done to alleviate the dust from this bare dirt hill; planted grass wasn’t scheduled until spring of 2027. One rep said “we’re putting water in it,” which in this drought-stricken and above average summer temps is but a bandaid. No one there seemed to be concerned about the plummeting market values of these homes or what kind of “wide open space” loss they now encounter.
As more and more private property owners of several hundred to thousands of “empty” acres are approached to sell their property for millions above their market value, the forgotten connected properties end up giving up much more than viewers.
Nvidia owner Jensen Huang is a business man. He’s all for competition but working together. He won’t stop selling his chips to China, and it’s where all of these data and AI centers are getting their chips from, for whatever AI programs these companies want to develop.
Wyoming has been a place holder in the energy sectors, but it has been by hook or by crook that our tax returns from corporations and companies cry “no fair” when higher taxes are discussed by the state legislature, folding when they are told by these reps and lobbyists that “we’ll pull out” Our short-sited electeds fall for this everytime. Wyoming should be getting a much bigger piece of the pie while the corporate investors, and CEO’s are making billions. Just think, the Wyoming Activities Assn wouldn’t have to eliminate all these school activities that the high school teachers an students look forward to and learn from. Maybe Cheyenne could get their YMCA back. I’m sure other towns could use some much needed funds that would have to gotten from county propositions. The state legislature would have to cry every budget session about not having enough money for the budget.
Doing things the “Wyoming way” is a such a trite empty slogan. Isn’t it the Bezos-Zuckerberg-[supplemental billionaire names here] way? These are the very people who weaken our democracy. They are not yet done.
The three leading hyperscale datacenter developers are Amazon Web Services, Meta and Microsoft Azure. They have168 centers between them. Do the authors of this hack piece think these companies care a fig for Wyoming’s beloved landscape, its workforce, its wildlife, its tax base? They can’t be that daft.
Wyoming has always been a corporate colony, and this is the latest chapter of that saga. How precisely does Wyoming “lead” the process? A few landowners make money. Some Wyoming towns see a short-term infusion of cash. Construction and electrical workers have local employment for a while. This is just another boom, portending enrichment for those who are already absurdly wealthy, until we hit a downturn.
When it’s done, we are left with another Jeffrey City. Only bigger and more widespread.
Nobody needs a data center in there back yard. Polluting water and using electricity
We’re in drought living in semi desert
Find somewhere else
This essay checks all the boxes for being propaganda.
This is just another regurgitation of the Data Center promoters. They failed to mention that mega Data Centers have to eliminate 40% of existing jobs to pencil out (and they will eliminate far more jobs than they will create, even in Wyoming).
They failed to talk about how Data Centers will be taxed. So far all I’ve seen is them offering tax incentives, robbing Wyoming citizens.
They failed to mention that so far, mega data centers have only violated what they promise-more water usage, more noise, higher utility prices, less jobs, money pouring OUT of the states that have them.
Where is the dicussion in this editorial about the real impacts from these energy consuming Frankenstein AI data centers? No details, just trust us and we will do it the right way. That promise has been broken over and over again in Wyoming. The money goes to out of state to big corporations and billionaires. Beware the promise of “doing it the Wyoming Way”. Wyoming does not need data centers. Wyoming citizens do not want energy hungry data centers that will only destroy habitat, increase utilitiy bills, create pollution and add to damaging climate impacts by using dirty energy to power these monsters. “God Bless Wyoming and Keep it Wild.”
Building these data centers the “Wyoming Way” is a joke. It would be nice if it were real but communities aren’t being heard – these companies are just bulldozing their projects through. I didn’t move to Wyoming to have tech industries all around me – I came here for the clean air, wildlife, low population levels, and wide open spaces. That is all rapidly disappearing. A few would be fine. But our small communities can not support the numbers that are heading our way.
Once our land is gone, it is gone to us forever – taken over by cheatgrass and other invasives that proliferate on disturbed land. And more cheatgrass, with hotter temperatures, and drought conditions, mean more wildfires. This all leads to my greatest fear … Wyoming Wastelands.
if you like the surveillance state then follow this opinion piece.
Selling your soul can “bolster economic development” as well.
Doesnt mean it is a good idea.
Glittering generalities, but where are specifics? And how would they be guaranteed?
The real Wyoming way would be NO DATA CENTERS.
If they’re such a great thing how come the data center developers keep having public officials sign non disclosure agreements when they are proposed? If things are being done in a secretive manner then something is not right.
Local residents often learn about massive power and water demands—such as millions of gallons used for cooling or hundreds of megawatts from the local grid—only after deals are finalized. And communities lose the chance to negotiate fair community benefit agreements or address environmental and noise concerns before zoning approvals happen and then it’s too late.
On the Boards website there is an article about water use of data centers. It states that that newer data centers have closed loop cooling systems. They just have to be filled once. Sounds so simple and the problem of water usage associated with data centers is not a problem. Any water cooling system has many maintenance requirements including monitoring, chemical treatment, flushing and refilling. Fill it once is a sugar coating of a data centers water need for cooling.
Most of this feels written by an LLM, which is perfectly ironic talking about how data centers foster opportunities for human jobs. These tech billionaires continue to spout how these loud, obnoxious centers increase property value. How? No one has ever made a salient point there. Sure they create short term jobs, and a couple long term (until those people become obsolete thanks to the very facility they’d work in) but what is the payoff for residents near the buildings, truly? The Prometheus project proposed in Casper is working to bypass environmental research with a “better do this now before we take our business elsewhere” attitude… sorry, but how does that benefit the community? The “writer” mentions how Wyoming is a beautiful state and wildlife means a lot to most people here, so don’t tell us we need to turn a blind eye to the impact you’re project will have on the local flora and fauna. This is a project that benefits the ultra wealthy looking to grab up our land, create massive construction tearing up our resources, and they don’t want to be held accountable or go through the necessary steps to even prove this won’t wreck everything it touches. Whats the saying? They’re trying to piss on our legs and tell us it’s rain. And the local leadership pretend like they care about the citizens input, but they are lining their pockets along the way too. If they really care about their community, they will not let some big tech billionaire bozos come in and strong arm us out of our land, views, and peace. Here’s hoping the money they’re stuffing our commissioners under the table isn’t worth betraying their constituents.