Concern and fear over the potential for data center development in Lincoln County is growing more vocal, even as county officials insist no formal projects are on the table for the western Wyoming county.
“With data centers changing the landscape of the West, will your Lincoln County commissioners vote for their constituents (sic) voice or vote to pad their own pockets?” asked Smoot resident Jeff Smith of a local social media group.
Smith told Cowboy State Daily he believes county officials have not been fully transparent about discussions about developments in the county and the potential for data centers to move in.
That skepticism is shared by others who express fear and distrust of the issue in general.
Many are wary because of an escalating debate and pushback over data centers in and around Cheyenne, along with a hugely controversial project in nearby Utah.
“I’m just waking up to all of this as I think a lot of people are in the sense (of) ‘what the hell is going on?’” Smith said.
'Making Noise’
For now, that fear about data centers is misplaced, because there are none on the radar, county officials say.
Lincoln County Commissioner Kent Connelly told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that there's “nothing on the horizon” about any potential data center buildouts in the county.
That doesn’t mean people aren’t talking about data centers in Lincoln County.
“Everybody’s talking about them,” Connelly said. “Has someone put in an application? No. I just have a lot of people making a lot of noise.”
Amanda Campbell, who grew up in Kemmerer and now lives in Utah, said her concern intensified after the announcement of the Stratos Project, a sprawling data center and power development backed by investor Kevin O’Leary in Box Elder County, Utah.
The project is expected to span 40,000 acres and eventually use up to 9 gigawatts of power, which would make it the largest data center ever.
Fear of data centers coming to Lincoln County is a topic of discussion between Campbell and her family who still live in the Kemmerer area, she told Cowboy State Daily.
“Now all of a sudden I’m hearing all this chatter online and when I talk to my family, about these companies who have bought up all this land,” she said.
Her family spends summer days in Whitney Canyon (which straddles Uinta and Lincoln counties) and hiking Oyster Ridge, a trail that starts in Kemmerer.
Campbell said she worries industrial development could eventually limit public access to those places.
Campbell said she sees what is happening at the Utah data center as a warning to southwest Wyoming.
“The Great Salt Lake continues to dry up, and if we don’t get any snow here, they won’t get any snow there,” she said.
She said she believes the Stratos Project could “collapse the whole system.”
“We all recognize that our resources are limited,” she said. “It’s all very much connected.”
Lincoln Star
County commissioners were scheduled Tuesday to hear public comments on a proposed Lincoln Star Improvement and Service District.
Area residents have expressed concern over the proposed district, which would reportedly develop shared infrastructure and create strategic partnerships among smaller developers to enhance economic growth in the county.
A public notice for the hearing listed data centers as one possible service the district could provide, touching off concern among residents already wary of large-scale industrial development in southwest Wyoming.
“Lincoln County is a land of giants,” said Brad Barham, one of three landowners who is petitioning to form the district. “You have the coal mine, the Rocky Mountain Power plant and TerraPower.”
He said the improvement and service district would provide a system of smaller developers to support economic growth in a county that desperately needs it.
Two hours before Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners received a letter from Criterium Management Co., which requested the hearing, asking to postpone it.
Barham later told Cowboy State Daily he requested the delay because he was unable to attend the meeting.
But questions about data centers were already circulating.
Connelly said the mention of data centers in the public notice was overblown.
“There is no data center,” Connelly told Cowboy State Daily. “We have no requests for data centers.”
Barham acknowledged there has been broader discussion about data centers outside the proposed district.
If plans to form the district move forward, he said a “micro data center” will be put on privately owned property.
“It will be invisible,” he told Cowboy State Daily.
Development Prospects
Lincoln County has been central to recent talks about the Sublette County antelope herd’s migration corridor, as officials have questioned the impact potential data center development near Kemmerer and Opal could have on the herd’s migration route.
Southern Lincoln County already has a robust energy infrastructure, including a natural gas power plant owned by Rocky Mountain Power.
Lincoln County Chief of Staff Steve Allen told Cowboy State Daily in an email he is aware of inquiries of interest in potential data center development in Lincoln County but had seen no formal applications.
Connelly said data center developers are exploring opportunities across Wyoming.
“They’re asking in all 23 counties,” he said.
Industrial and economic development proposals are a routine part of county government, he added.
“I get hit up with development prospects every day,” he said. “Data centers aren’t any different.”
He said the region’s cool climate, underground water supply and existing energy resources make it attractive for future investment.
“We have the natural resources and natural gas and coal-fired electricity that nobody else has,” he said.
Allen told Cowboy State Daily the loss of assessed value due to a reduction in coal mining in the county is one of his top economic concerns.
Currently, there are no applications for data centers are being considered in the county, Connelly said.
“Nobody’s pulling off one in the near present future,” he said.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
