An artificial intelligence data center that would use more electricity than every home in Wyoming combined, before expanding to as much as five times that size, will be built soon near Cheyenne, according to the city's mayor. "It's a game changer. It's huge," Mayor Patrick Collins said Monday. With cool weather—good for keeping computer temperatures down—and an abundance of inexpensive electricity from a top energy-producing state, Wyoming's capital has become a computing power hub, per the AP. The city has been home to Microsoft data centers since 2012, and an $800 million data center announced last year by Facebook parent Meta Platforms is nearing completion, Collins said.
The latest center, a joint effort between regional energy infrastructure company Tallgrass and AI data center developer Crusoe, would begin at 1.8 gigawatts of electricity and be scalable to 10 gigawatts, per a joint company statement. A gigawatt can power as many as 1 million homes, but that's more homes than Wyoming has people: The least populated state, Wyoming, has only about 590,000 residents. And it's a major exporter of energy—a top producer of coal, oil, and gas, Wyoming ranks behind only Texas, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania as a top net energy-producing state, per the US Energy Information Administration.
Accounting for fossil fuels, Wyoming produces about 12 times more energy than it consumes, exporting almost three-fifths of the electricity it produces, per the EIA. But this proposed data center is so big, it would have its own dedicated energy from gas generation and renewable sources, according to Collins and company officials. Gov. Mark Gordon praised the project's value to the state's gas industry. "This is exciting news for Wyoming and for Wyoming natural gas producers," he said.
story continues below
While data centers are energy-hungry, experts say companies can help reduce their effect on the climate by powering them with renewable energy rather than fossil fuels. Even so, electricity customers might see their bills increase as utilities plan for massive data projects on the grid. This data center would be built several miles south of Cheyenne, off US 85 near the Colorado state line. State and local regulators need to sign off on the project, but Collins is optimistic construction can begin soon.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
