Carbon County tables permit for Wellington-area technology park and hears separate nuclear project proposal
The Carbon County Planning Commission tabled a conditional-use permit for Altigen Energy and Duct Tape’s proposed 1,236-acre technology park east of Wellington, which would begin with a 250-megawatt natural gas power plant and could eventually serve data centers and other industrial users. Commissioners requested more information about the project’s scope, water rights, infrastructure and potential impacts. Separately, Valar Atomics presented plans for a nuclear energy development north of Wellington, but it has not yet submitted an application.
The Carbon County Planning Commission unanimously tabled consideration of a conditional-use permit for Jurassic Spark, a proposed 1,236-acre technology park east of Wellington backed by Altigen Energy and Duct Tape. The first phase would include a 250-megawatt natural gas power plant supplying behind-the-meter electricity to future tenants, potentially including a data center, cold-storage facility and critical-minerals manufacturer. Altigen Chief Operating Officer Bernard Brown said the company develops energy infrastructure rather than data centers themselves.
Commissioners and county staff said the application was too broad and lacked sufficient detail about future tenants and potential impacts. They raised questions about water rights, wastewater, traffic, infrastructure and public input; the applicants said a proposed treatment system could recycle about 99% of its water. The commission deferred the permit until at least its November meeting while additional information is gathered.
Valar Atomics CEO Isaiah Taylor separately presented Project Beehive, a potential small-modular-reactor development on about 640 acres of SITLA land north of Wellington, with possible expansion onto adjacent Bureau of Land Management property. Valar said the site could eventually support multiple reactors and industrial customers, including data centers, but no application or formal action was before the commission.