Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
While it was scheduled as a regular meeting for Natrona County commissioners, last week’s session was anything but.
Residents packed the courthouse and voiced their thoughts on a potential multi-million-dollar artificial intelligence (AI) database that could be built close to home.
When asked for a show of hands in support and opposition to the project, the room was nearly evenly divided.
Prometheus Hyperscale officials asked the commissioners not to approve the entire $500 million, 940-acre project, but to bypass the state industrial siting review to speed up build time.
"We're asking for your support to help us move forward with the industrial park and the formal county led permitting process where the design can be reviewed, where the studies can be published, the community can stay engaged and every commitment that we've made can be a part of the public record,” said Eric Schlidt, who directs Prometheus’ Build Wyoming initiative.
Prometheus intends to apply for a planned unit development to zone 940 acres south of I-25 on the Falls Ranch property between Casper and Glenrock in order to build there.
Some residents shared skepticism and worries about the negative impact it could have on Wyoming’s landscape.
"We're stripping Wyoming, ” Sherry Johnson pleaded.” We're talking, what, 150 jobs? That's not worth our landscape. We can't get it back. Once it's gone, it's gone. Most of us that live here came here because of this place and the beauty that it provides."
Others said getting ahead in the AI data center race could open job opportunities that go well beyond the center itself.
"Projects of this scale can create demand for local contractors, suppliers, skilled trades, transportation providers and service businesses throughout the region,” said Fred Fichtner, chief operations officer for Mesa Power Solutions.
Commissioners cautioned against reacting with panic instead of focusing on the facts, and Prometheus officials stated an opportunity like this can only benefit future generations.
"When an opportunity like this finally shows up, we owe it to each other and the next generation to take it seriously,” said Schlidt. “The alternative is another decade of a county that grows on paper, while schools consolidate, our median age climbs, and our 25-year-olds and 30-year-olds load up the truck for Denver or Salt Lake."
While Natrona County residents remain split, commissioners said that any formal vote on the Prometheus project remains months away.
