Data centers in Wyoming have struggled to find the power they need outside of Cheyenne. Now one of them is turning to a well-known Wyoming expert to navigate the energy and regulatory landscape.
Prometheus Hyperscale, which plans to locate on a ranch near Evanston along the Utah border, has announced the hiring of Wyoming Public Service Commissioner Mary Throne as its new general counsel, starting Aug. 4.
Throne told Cowboy State Daily her last day with the Wyoming PSC will be Aug. 1, cutting short her appointment, which runs through March 2027.
Throne took the job because she’s looking forward to the challenges ahead, she told Cowboy State Daily. She also wants to see more data centers succeed in Wyoming locations outside of Cheyenne.
“I love the job I have now and certainly appreciate Gov. (Mark) Gordon giving me the opportunity he’s given me the last several years to be on the commission,” Throne said. “But Prometheus is just an exciting opportunity for Wyoming.
“We have so much energy and so much potential. It will be exciting to see this project come to fruition.”
Throne said the success of multiple data centers moving into Cheyenne, which predate her time on the PSC, shows how creative collaborations make a difference.
“It’s just a situation where I think the utility was proactive and came to the commission with a solution to make those data centers possible in Cheyenne,” she said. “That large power tariff predates my involvement on the commission, but I think it shows that if you collaborate and work together and you’re creative, you can come up with a solution.”
Wyoming Wrestling With Complex Energy Issues
Wyoming has long been an energy state, but it’s facing increasingly complex challenges in the sector.
During her time on the Public Service Commission, Throne played a critical role in all of that. Rates and affordability, new transmission lines, integration of renewable energy, grid reliability, wildfire mitigation, an increasingly difficult regulatory environment — those are just a few of the thorny issues that have been on the Public Service Commission’s plate throughout her tenure.
“We do have a lot of challenges in the energy space,” Throne said. “We’ve talked about a lot of them in terms of wildfire and reliability issues and the changing grid. And now, on top of all that, we’ve added this AI discussion.”
It’s important though to think in terms of opportunity, rather than challenge, when it comes to AI and Wyoming, Throne believes.
Those opportunities are “the jobs this will create, and the revenue it creates in Wyoming, and then the ability to use Wyoming energy.”
Wyoming exports 15 times as much power as it uses but is struggling to get the infrastructure it needs to step that power down for projects within the state.
That’s been hampering the growth of data centers along I-80, which is co-located with the fiber optics that data centers and artificial intelligence centers need, but lacks ready access to the kind of power those centers will also require. Sweetwater County is among communities who have told Cowboy State Daily they’ve had problems connecting power for interested data centers.
A combination of outdated infrastructure is part of the problem, but Throne also sees challenges when it comes to protecting ratepayers.
“The (Public Service) Commission, regardless of which state they are in, are charged with protecting ratepayers,” she said. “So, you have to take advantage of opportunities in a way that doesn’t harm existing ratepayers.”
About Prometheus Hyperscale
Prometheus Hyperscale is making a $10 billion investment in its huge 1-gigawatt AI Data Center near Evanston, on a ranch that’s been operated by the same family for six Wyoming generations.
Trenton Thornock, CEO and founder of the company, has told Cowboy State Daily in previous interviews that he decided to build his innovative data center in southwest Wyoming on his family’s ranch because he didn’t see many data centers outside of Cheyenne, and none in his corner of the state.
Once complete, his data center will be much larger than the Microsoft data center in Cheyenne, which is just a little more than 235 megawatts, and Thornock believes his company will have the largest single data center in the world.
The data center near Evanston will also be innovative compared to other data centers because it will be liquid-cooled. Thornock started his project back in 2020, before there were any large AI deployments. Most data centers were air-cooled. That design is suited to cloud computing, but not for AI, which is much more heat intensive.
“People thought this was crazy,” Thornock said. “Because I said I’m going to build a 12-megawatt facility in Wyoming, and it’s going to be all liquid-cooled. And they’re like, ‘Oh well, good luck with that. Nobody needs that kind of infrastructure.”
Thornock’s early adoption of liquid cooling has put him smack in the middle of an AI boom at just the right time, though.
“Now everyone needs it,” he said.
Thornock has been discussing his project with a variety of what he described as large, name-brand tech companies, some of whom are already in Wyoming.
“We’ve also been talking to major artificial intelligence companies,” he said. “I can’t say which ones, but people can guess who they are.”
Thornock plans that the Evanston facility will remain the company’s flagship, but he’s also hoping to expand his model beyond Wyoming as well.
No Cookie-Cutter Solutions
Before the flagship can expand though, there are connectivity issues and power problems to solve. Throne said that will be a primary focus for her at Prometheus Hyperscale.
“It’s just a matter of connecting the dots to get the power and everything,” she said. “I think it’s really just being able to collaborate and bring key players together to create this opportunity for Wyoming.”
Resolving those problems will not just be good for Prometheus Hyperscale in Evanston, but also other locations within the state.
“There are examples where commissions have developed agreements or settlements or a tariff structure that protects ratepayers but also allows the community to have the data center,” she said. ‘We’ll just have to find the right fit for Wyoming for each project.”
The solutions might look different in different locations or for different companies, she added.
“It’s always going to be a work in progress,” she said. “It’s not like there’s one cookie cutter solution out there that’s going to fit everywhere. But I think we can make it work in Wyoming. I mean, we already have made it work in Wyoming, but I think we can make it work in other parts of the state.”
Wyoming will likely always be an energy-exporting state, Throne added.
“But we should look for opportunities to use our abundant energy supply in Wyoming,” she said. “And we should start thinking of this (AI boom) as an opportunity, not a problem.”
That has the potential to make Wyoming a growth state if it’s managed well, Throne suggested.
“There’s a lot of opportunity and a lot of smart people in this field, all across the board,” she said. “This is going to be a growth sector for a long time to come.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
