AI Data Center in Wyoming Could Soon Outpace State’s Entire Residential Power Use

A new artificial intelligence data center planned for Wyoming may soon use more electricity than the entire state’s residential sector, Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins announced Monday, according to The Associated Press.

The facility is a collaboration between Tallgrass, an energy infrastructure firm, and Crusoe, a developer of AI-focused data centers. At full scale, the center would require up to 10 gigawatts of electricity—more than five times what all Wyoming households currently consume combined. Even the initial phase, requiring 1.8 gigawatts, would amount to 15.8 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually. That’s 91% of the 17.3 TWh currently consumed across all of Wyoming’s residential, commercial, and industrial sectors.

If fully realized, the project’s electricity demand would reach 87.6 TWh per year—more than twice Wyoming’s current annual power generation of 43.2 TWh. Given the magnitude of power needed, the project won’t depend on the public grid. Instead, it will operate using dedicated natural gas generation alongside renewable sources, Collins and company officials said.

Despite its self-contained energy system, the data center would dramatically alter energy dynamics in Wyoming, a state that currently exports nearly 60% of its generated electricity.

Governor Mark Gordon voiced strong support for the initiative, highlighting its potential to boost the local energy sector. “This is exciting news for Wyoming and for Wyoming natural gas producers,” Gordon stated in a company release.

The proposed site is located a few miles south of Cheyenne, near the Colorado border off U.S. Route 85. While the project still awaits approval from regulatory agencies, Collins said he anticipates a swift launch. “I believe their plans are to go sooner rather than later,” he noted.

Cheyenne has been home to data centers for over a decade, drawing major tech players like Microsoft and Meta thanks to its favorable climate and energy infrastructure. However, this new project represents an unprecedented leap in scale.

Wyoming ranks as the third-largest net energy supplier in the U.S., producing about 12 times more energy than it consumes—mostly through fossil fuels—but its electrical capacity is limited. The massive scope of the new data center raises questions about its end users, as Tallgrass and Crusoe have not identified who will utilize the computing resources.

Ex-CNN Staffer Blames Network’s Plummeting Ratings on ‘Toning Down’ Coverage of Trump’s ‘Assaults’ on America