Sheridan residents weigh risks, regulations surrounding AI data centers
Sheridan County residents raised concerns about the water, energy, wildlife, air quality and noise impacts of potential hyperscale AI data centers at a Wyoming Outdoor Council forum. The council is advocating for stronger statewide safeguards, greater transparency and community benefit agreements, although no data center proposal is currently known to be under consideration in Sheridan County.
Residents at a Wyoming Outdoor Council forum in Sheridan discussed the potential effects of hyperscale AI data centers, including heavy electricity demand, water use, wildlife disruption, noise and air quality. Wyoming Outdoor Council campaign manager Jocelyn Wulf said there are no known current proposals for a data center in Sheridan County, but urged communities to establish protections before developers seek approval. Energy and climate policy director John Burrows said data center proposals elsewhere in Wyoming are growing in scale.
The discussion highlighted gaps in state and local oversight, including an industrial-siting review loophole for projects located in existing industrial parks. Wulf cited a wastewater incident involving Meta's data center construction in Cheyenne as an example of the need for greater transparency, while Sheridan resident and Powder River Basin Resource Council Executive Director Donna Birkholz said lawmakers have been caught unprepared. The Wyoming Outdoor Council is developing model legislation and pursuing a petition seeking stronger statewide standards, while Gov. Mark Gordon's executive order on data centers provides guidance to state agencies but does not directly regulate developers.