Wyoming teams with Trump admin to expedite energy, industrial projects
Wyoming and the Trump administration signed a memorandum of understanding to coordinate and expedite permitting for large energy, industrial and data center projects. Officials said the effort will shorten review timelines while maintaining legal environmental standards, though local communities remain concerned about reduced time for public input.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council Executive Director Emily Domenech signed an agreement aimed at coordinating state and federal reviews for large infrastructure projects, including data centers and artificial intelligence computing centers. The initiative will add Wyoming permitting information to the federal agency’s dashboard and is intended to make reviews faster, more predictable and more transparent.
The agreement comes amid concerns from residents and local officials that expedited reviews for projects such as the Seminoe pumped storage hydroelectric project and Bear Lodge rare earth mine have limited opportunities for community participation. Gordon said faster permitting would still require projects to comply with the law, while Domenech advocated broader congressional reforms to reduce delays and litigation over approved projects.