What Does AI Think About Data Centers In Wyoming

Like many states, Wyoming is still having a debate about Hyper Scale Data Centers. Do we really want them here?

For the fun of it I decided to as AI, of all entities, to list the good things and bad things about data centers.  Here is what it came up with.

Good Things (Pros)

Digital Infrastructure: They power daily online activities, cloud computing, streaming, and modern artificial intelligence tools.

Economic Growth: Construction creates short-term jobs, and operations will bring property tax revenue. Many small Wyoming counties need the money, and this will bring in a lot.

Grid Support Potential: Some newer facilities help fund electrical grid upgrades or act as flexible energy loads that can support lower electricity costs.

man holding black DSLR camera

Bad Things (Cons)

High Energy Demand: Massive power requirements can strain the electrical grid and drive up utility bills for residents. But in some states, data centers create power and lower electricity bills.

Massive Water Use: Cooling systems consume millions of gallons of water daily, straining local watersheds and aquifers. Unless they use a closed-loop water system, which eliminates this problem.

Pollution: Backup diesel or gas generators and cooling systems can cause air pollution, loud constant noise, and light pollution.

Limited Long-Term Jobs: After construction, they employ very few permanent workers.
Like most other states in the nation, Wyoming is being considered for several large-scale, or "hyper-scale," data center constructions. The objections being raised by some in the state are the same objections being heard in communities across the nation.

Let's make a list of the top objections and see if those issues can be resolved. How many and which of these issues would have to be resolved for most people to be in favor of a data center near them?

Water Consumption: Cooling systems require millions of gallons of water annually, which raises serious concerns in drought-prone and arid areas where the facilities compete with agricultural and domestic water supplies. (Solution - Closed-loop systems that use far less water).

Rising Utility Bills: Communities fear that the massive capital outlays needed for utilities to upgrade power grids and build new power plants will be passed onto local residential and small business ratepayers. (Solution - Creating their own power).

Reclamation: Has money been set aside to clean up and reclaim the land should the data center go bankrupt? (Solution - use the same reclamation rules we have in place for coal, gas, oil, wind, and solar).

Grid Instability: The rapid, massive energy swings of large AI campuses can destabilize regional power grids, potentially causing voltage fluctuations or blackouts. (Solution - Creating their own power).

Noise Pollution: Data centers operate around the clock, with cooling fans and banks of diesel backup generators generating persistent, low-frequency noise that impacts the quality of life in surrounding neighborhoods. (Solution - heavy noise buffering in their construction).

I don't have solutions for all of these problems, but maybe the data centers can figure out how to overcome the next few objections.

E-Waste & Emissions: The continuous replacement of servers creates significant electronic waste, while the constant use of diesel backup generators causes localized air pollution.

Farmland & Habitat Loss: Hyperscale data centers require enormous land footprints—often exceeding 1,000 acres—which drives the conversion of productive agricultural land.

Low Job Creation: Residents frequently object that these massive structures provide very few permanent local jobs after the initial construction phase is completed.

Lack of Transparency: Many developers use nondisclosure agreements and secret negotiations with city councils to secure land and approvals before the public is informed.

How Much Is Too Much? Should we limit the number of data centers the state can handle? We should do the same with wind and solar farms.

Wyoming's Governor Mark Gordon paid a visit to the studios of Wyoming's morning radio talk show with host Glenn Woods. Among the topics discussed were data centers.

You can hear that part of the interview in the audio file below.

The governor spoke of the international and national data center boom and the concerns over energy and water. Wyoming can certainly provide the energy, he said.

As for the water issue, Governor Gordon had recently taken a tour of an expanding Microsoft data center near Cheyenne, where he learned that the cooling water will be in a closed-loop system, much like the radiator of your car. The water will indeed have to be cleaned and flushed from time to time, but it will not be the water loss that some think it will be.

zhuyufang

But what if a data center tries to start up, but then fails and goes bankrupt? Are we just left with a big building sitting out there in the prairie? Who cleans that up?  The governor answered that with the idea of a reclamation process, much like those that are demanded of coal, gas, oil, wind, and solar, where those companies have to put money aside just in case.

Gordon stressed that data centers in Wyoming would be subject to Wyoming rules that the state could write to satisfy its own concerns.

He also stressed that while the data centers would not employ many people once completed, they would provide substantial tax revenue to low-population counties that could use the money.