Pitching 940-acre data center, Prometheus Hyperscale asks Natrona County to bypass state review
Prometheus Hyperscale presented a request to Natrona County commissioners to consider an industrial park zoning designation for its proposed 940-acre data center. This designation would exempt the $500 million project from state industrial siting review, aiming to speed up construction. Commissioners took no action on the request, which sparked debate among residents regarding local control versus state oversight and environmental impacts.
Developers for the proposed Prometheus Hyperscale data center, Trenton Thornock and Eric Schlidt, asked Natrona County commissioners to consider an industrial park zoning designation for their 940-acre, 1.5-gigawatt data center campus. This designation, they argued, would allow the $500 million project to bypass state industrial siting review, expediting the build-out while maintaining county-level oversight. The commissioners took no action on the request during their workshop meeting, noting that a formal vote is months away after an application is submitted.
The proposal, which would site the facility south of Interstate 25 on Falls Ranch property between Casper and Glenrock, drew a packed audience of both supporters and skeptics. Residents voiced concerns about the project's potential impact on the landscape, noise, heat, traffic, initial water use, and air pollution from the natural gas power plant. Some residents advocated for local control over state oversight, while others emphasized the need for verified facts over speculation.
Prometheus Hyperscale has partnered with Mesa Power Solutions for natural gas generators, Spiritus for carbon-negative power infrastructure, and Casper Carbon Capture for underground carbon storage. The company has also shifted its proposed site entirely within Natrona County following earlier pushback from neighbors regarding noise, heat, and traffic from a previous plan that spanned Converse and Natrona counties. Prometheus also referenced a successful zone change approval in Uinta County for a similar project as a model.
Commissioners, including Peter Nicolaysen, Dallas Laird, and Jim Milne, questioned developers on community benefit agreements, road access, utility impacts, and cooling fluids. Commissioner Laird emphasized the need for written agreements and expressed the county's intent to thoroughly vet the project, noting that opinions differ from facts. Commissioner Coates cautioned against panicking without tangible facts, while Commissioner North clarified that state agencies, not the county, are responsible for water rights and industrial pollution under state statutes. Despite the workshop, no immediate decisions were made, and the developers were advised that the formal process would take months.