Wyoming Data Centers

Bigger data centers are coming. How can Wyoming get ahead of the boom?

Wyoming Public Media | January 16, 2026

As data centers pop up across Wyoming, many communities are concerned about what this could mean for utility rates and water use.

But there are ways to get ahead of these issues, according to a November white paperfrom the Wyoming Outdoor Council, a nonprofit conservation advocacy group based in Lander.

The paper highlights potential legislation to make data center developers pay for adding demand to the power grid, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and be accountable to the public.

“We do just need to get in front of the boom and not have to play catch up,” said Jocelyn Wulf, the Wyoming Outdoor Council fellow who wrote the paper.

This comes as counties approve large hyperscale data centers, including one from Tallgrass and Crusoe in Laramie County, which could be the largest single artificial intelligence campus in the country.

Wyoming lawmakers have yet to file bills specifically tied to data centers for their upcoming budget session, which kicks off Feb. 9. But Wulf is hopeful they will pass legislation in the coming years.

She sat down with Wyoming Public Radio’s Hanna Merzbach to talk about her research.

Read the entire Hanna Merzbach interview with Jocelyn Wulf, the William W. McIntyre Fellow at the Wyoming Outdoor Council here.