Dear editor:
Wyoming has always been an energy state. Coal, oil and natural gas built our schools, roads and communities.
They've provided good-paying jobs that allowed generations of Wyoming families to live here, raise kids and build a life.
Those industries don't need to be replaced. They need more customers.
Some in our state have the conversation backwards. Too often, we're told Wyoming must choose between standing behind the industries that built this state or embracing what's next. We don't. The next chapter can be built on the same foundation.
When people ask what Wyoming's next major industry might be, I believe data centers deserve to be part of that conversation. And the reason they make sense here is straightforward: they run on energy, and Wyoming has spent generations producing it and has an abundance of it.
I've spent my career in energy finance, and before that I grew up on a Bear River ranch, parts of which have been in my family for six generations. Those experiences shape how I look at what Prometheus Hyperscale is building in Evanston and where I think Wyoming's economy can go from here.
Our Evanston campus will be powered by Wyoming natural gas.
For most of our history, Wyoming has produced energy and shipped it somewhere else. The electricity gets generated somewhere else. The manufacturing and jobs happen somewhere else. The technology gets built somewhere else. Too often, the biggest share of the economic value leaves with the resource.
Data centers give us a chance to change that.
Instead of exporting the raw material and letting someone else capture the opportunity, we can use more of that energy here. This will generate tax revenue and support Wyoming contractors, tradespeople, and local businesses while creating another long-term customer for the energy industry that already powers this state.
That's not replacing Wyoming's energy economy. It's adding to it.
Artificial intelligence is changing the economy, and every AI system ultimately depends on reliable, abundant energy. That's something Wyoming has never lacked. We don't need to reinvent ourselves to compete. We simply need to recognize the advantage we've had all along.
For generations, we've powered America. There's no reason we can't power the next generation of technology too, and keep more of the jobs, investment and opportunity right here at home.
Sincerely,
Trenton Thornock
Founder and Senior Advisor of Prometheus Hyperscale.
