Two more possible data center projects are in the pipeline near Cheyenne even as Laramie County planners vote to recommend approval of a massive 5,600 person man camp to house workers.
Laramie County Planning and Development Program Manager Justin Arnold said a 540-acre data center could be coming to Carpenter, a small unincorporated town about 35 miles east of Cheyenne.
A separate project to establish a new industrial business park and develop a data center campus at the intersection of southeast Terry Ranch Road and Interstate 25 is being eyed by another developer, Langan said.
Both projects were mentioned briefly last week when the county planning commission met to discuss a huge 800-unit man camp that could house up to 5,600 workers and specialists expected to come with a flood of artificial intelligence and data center construction.
The commission voted to recommend approval of the man camp to county commissioners, and also discussed how more data centers “coming down the pipe,” such as the two he spoke of will only add to the workforce numbers, Langan said.
“This does insert itself into the man camp discussion,” he said.
Coming To Carpenter?
Arnold confirmed Monday that a representative with Truss Energy, a New York-based company, reached out about the process of pursuing a potential data center buildout in Laramie County.
The project would be about a mile west of Carpenter.
“They’re in the very preliminary stages,” Arnold told Cowboy State Daily, adding that no application has been submitted.
“Right now, this company is just doing its due diligence,” he said.
If Arnold’s office receives an application from Truss Energy, he said he will work to arrange a meeting with the company and commissioners to provide an overview of the proposed project.
A spokesperson with Truss Energy did not respond to Cowboy State Daily’s phone or email messages before publication.
Bison Ranch
Meanwhile, a project that would eventually span 2,775 acres near the intersection of Terry Ranch Road and Interstate 25 could move forward.
A developer would need to get a zoning change approved for a combined industrial business park and data center campus.
The land is now zoned for agricultural and livestock purposes. For the project to move forward, it would have to be zoned for a Planned Unit Development (PUD).
Arnold said his office has received a request for a pre-application but has received no proposals for that potential data center development.
According to the pre-application letter viewed by Cowboy State Daily, the proposed development, called Bison Ranch, consists of a master-planned data center campus that would likely comprise four single-story buildings with individual building footprints of about 700,000 square feet each.
Arnold said he doesn’t know how large of a workforce the project would attract, and no meeting with county commissioners has happened.
A Technical Way With Water
Both projects, if they go through, would be fueled by natural gas.
The natural gas would power large turbines, Arnold said, and the process would require fuel cells the size of refrigerators.
“You pump in natural gas and it pumps out electricity and water, to the tune of 40,000 gallons of water a day,” he told the planning commission.
The Hearing
Arnold laid out a high-level view of potential projects as the planning commission prepared to hear public comments about the proposed man camp.
“I want to give you information as to what I’ve seen come across my desk,” Arnold told the commission. “There are no bonafide applications yet, but I can see the writing on the wall.”
Arnold told Cowboy State Daily he wanted to make clear at the meeting that the county has no new official applications.
“But we’ve been approached by a lot of projects,” he said, adding that not all the projects are for data centers.
While Arnold said he is all for data center companies eventually putting their own workforce accommodations on site, there have been no formal such requests. The proposed worker housing is a mitigation measure, he said.
“These are six-figure-paying jobs,” Arnold told the planning commission. “Electricians, pipefitters. I fear for the cashier on South Greeley Highway working at Safeway who’s going to be priced out as soon as the lease comes up on their rental.”
He said he fully expects property taxes to continue to go up because, “We only have so much supply versus demand. I see no other option at this time but to consolidate these workforces now.”
Public Pushback
Multiple Laramie County residents spoke in opposition to the proposed man camp at last week's planning commission meeting.
Chris Fischer lives in Orchard Valley, a housing subdivision adjacent to the proposed project site.
She expressed frustration over feeling like the opposition’s voice is not being heard as projects continue come up and get approved.
“They’ve already decided this is the perfect spot for (the man camp), regardless of what the residents think,” she told Cowboy State Daily.
Fischer also shared on social media that, “I did not feel like our voices were considered or heard at all in any of this.”
She said she was not surprised by the mention of other potential data center projects.
“None of it surprises me about anywhere that they’re going to put them,” she said.
Laramie County Commission Chairman Gunnar Malm told Cowboy State Daily that Arnold updates the commissioners with projects that are coming forward as appropriate and that the commissioners have not seen any documentation regarding the new projects.
Prior to making a decision on the planning commission’s recommendation to move forward with the man camp, the Laramie County Commissioners will hold a public hearing at 3:30 p.m. June 2 at the Historic Courthouse in Cheyenne.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
