After a contentious State Board of Land Commissioners meeting Thursday, Secretary of State Chuck Gray indicated it's Gov. Mark Gordon's fault he voted yes on an easement for a data center generation facility in June.
Gordon called that "clearly an excuse concocted by Mr. Gray to cover up the fact that he is not doing his homework and is taking votes he does not understand."
The governor also said that Gray sounds "like a jackass in a tin barn."
In his campaign against eight other Republicans for the GOP nomination to U.S. House, Gray is the only candidate voicing outright opposition to data centers. Many of his opponents have said it’s the state and local governments’ role, not the role of Congress, to dictate policies on data centers.
Gray was the lone no-vote of the State Board of Land Commissioners in February, on approving a 35-year easement for Cheyenne Power Hub, a generation facility slated to fuel a new Google data center project in the Cheyenne area.
He had touted being the lone nay on the data center project easement at Tuesday night’s House debate.
In June, however, Gray voted in favor of granting a 35-year, 30-acre easement to that same data center generator facility.
Gray told Cowboy State Daily he voted in favor of that data center-feeding facility because the vote’s true nature wasn’t clearly noticed, and “it looked like an easement for an oil and gas producer.”
Members of the State Board of Land Commissioners receive application documents a week before each meeting, and Office of State Lands (OSLI) and Investments personnel offer them a chance to ask questions and gain clarity before the meetings, OSLI communications and policy analyst Melissa Defratis said in a brief Thursday interview.
'An Ongoing Problem'
Gray also blamed Gordon for what he calls inadequate notice of the votes.
“Unfortunately, at certain times, the Governor has found ways to hide what these leases are actually doing,” said Gray in a Thursday email. “For example, in June, it wasn’t even mentioned that any of the easement applications had anything to do with the data center.”
The June application was from the same facility that drew Gray’s no-vote in February.
“There was no way for the Board members to know, which has been an ongoing problem," Gray said.
"All projects, easements, and Temporary Use Permits having anything to do with wind, solar, or data centers should be clearly noticed to the State Board of Land Commissioners," said Gray. "The fact that they haven’t been, including in the June meeting, is deeply disturbing to me.
"It shows Gordon’s continued attempts to force outrageously wrong wind, solar, and data center projects without clear notice and knowledge of the public, including the State Board of Land Commissioners.
Gray accused Cowboy State Daily of being “the ultimately ally of Mark Gordon” and an unspecified group of “insiders.”
Gordon responded in a strongly-worded statement, noting that the members of the State Board of Land Commissioners are "fully briefed with every opportunity to ask the staff for more information. Nothing is being hidden from Mr. Gray."
Gordon said Gray has not been doing his homework and has been voting on things he doesn't understand.
The governor said that in Thursday's meeting, "Mr. Gray appeared to be unprepared or unfamiliar with the material in front of him and was distracted by his cellphone during the meeting as he has been before."
The governor said Wyoming's elected officials are expected to come prepared to meetings.
"Mr. Gray continues to show his inability to understand the issues before him and to work well with his colleagues," said Gordon, adding, "The Secretary is sounding like a jackass in a tin barn."
Update - the second half of this story has, for clarity, been published as a standalone story.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
