Trust me on this. I'm not one of these knee-jerk Not In My Back Yard guys.
I'm not a NIMBY.
Even though there's a 144,000 square-foot, $1.2 billion data center nearing completion about a par-three chip shot from my back fence.
And the first we knew it was coming was when the bulldozers arrived. That's the problem.
The 114-acre site is just across the Union Pacific tracks from our place east of Cheyenne.
Part of my career in the newspaper biz was publishing small town daily newspapers for the (wonderful) family that once owned the Casper Star-Tribune. In that job, I supported efforts to diversify local economies.
In Craig, Colorado, we wanted to diversify from the dominant coal mine and power plant industries (without much success).
In Pekin, Illinois, we desperately wanted to diversify from Caterpillar Tractor Company, which was located all around us, employed thousands, and had a number of long, agonizing labor strikes. A federal prison seemed like a great idea, but bringing in a new prison can rip a town right in two. I've seen it. The prison was ultimately built, but only after years of bitter dispute.
So, this isn't my maiden voyage when it comes to economic development.
Today, about a mile west of our place, closer to Cheyenne, is a huge Microsoft data center that has been operating for about five years. It recently doubled in size. I go past it most days on the way to town.
And here's the interesting thing. Despite two buildings that are about a quarter mile long, with 10 stand-by generators lining each of the long sides (total 40), I've never heard a peep out of that Microsoft data center. Our well has not been affected, and our pretty low electric rates have not gone up.
So far.
Data centers employ hundreds of people while under construction, but far fewer once completed. These days, the parking lot has under 50 cars in it. I'm told most of the employees are in security, making sure the data inside doesn't get stolen. They have fences and gates like a prison.
Magpul Industries (maker of firearms accessories) down the street from Microsoft, employs far more people, with a big parking lot packed with cars on weekdays. If you're looking for population gains, and people spending money in town, manufacturing beats data storage hands down.
The bottom line for me is that if this new data center can operate as quietly and unobtrusively as the one I pass every day, and if our water is protected and our electric rates don't go up, I'm OK with it. And they generate millions in tax dollars, which explains why so many of our local officials are so welcoming. (They've just annexed 3,000 acres of ranch land for another Microsoft data center on the other side of town.)
What I'm not OK with is the lack of warning and opportunity for debate we were afforded regarding what was coming. We were blind-sided. Non-disclosure agreements have even been signed with some data center developers.
While people around the country are organizing to fight planned data centers, we are told that here, data centers were added to the industrial park zone before the boom started. And unless you're in the habit of attending planning commission and city council meetings, you didn't notice at the time.
Local newspapers used to employ minimum wage reporters like I once was to attend events like planning commission meetings, and write stories about projects on the horizon. Then recommendations would go to the city council, where the public would get another crack at making their feelings known.
But, with the decline of the daily newspaper business, I think that canary in the coal mine, warning communities of what is to come, is far diminished. So changes occur without front-page exposure, and before you know it the data center next door (SURPRISE!) is a perfectly accepted industrial park use. No debate required.
Last time I wrote about our new data center neighbor, a critic in Jackson wrote on Facebook that with my pro-business background, a huge data center in the back yard couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Ouch.
I feel like the fate of this property we love has been thrown into question by the Cheyenne City Council – members of which we can't vote for or against because we're in the county – and there are precious few assurances about what lies ahead.
And, as the heavy construction close to my back fence nears completion, it's way too late to do anything about it.
That horse is long since out of the barn.
Dave Simpson can be contacted at DaveSimpson145@hotmail.com
