Wyoming Data Center News

Apr 21, 2026

Microsoft Builds for Two Worlds: Sovereign Cloud and AI Factories

Microsoft is accelerating hyperscale data center and AI factory expansion, leasing and acquiring capacity in Texas and Norway, acquiring land in Cheyenne, and investing in Fairwater and other campuses.

Primary action: Microsoft is leasing and acquiring premium AI capacity (e.g., a roughly 700-megawatt Abilene, Texas project and capacity in Narvik, Norway), acquiring ~3,200 acres in Cheyenne for future data center development, and advancing its Fairwater campus investments (initial and second-phase commitments totaling >$7 billion in Wisconsin). These moves are announced as concrete transactions and site plans (leases, land intent to acquire, and campus construction timelines).
Background and details: The company reported record quarterly capex of $37.5 billion (Jan 2026 cycle) with a $625 billion cloud backlog (about 45% tied to OpenAI), committed $3.3 billion to Fairwater phase 1 and $4 billion to phase 2, and is deploying 30,000 Nvidia Vera Rubin chips in Narvik building on a prior $6.2 billion regional commitment. Microsoft also pledged a “community-first” approach: paying full utility costs, replenishing more data center water than consumed, and publishing region-level water data.

Apr 20, 2026

BYOP Moves to the Center of Data Center Strategy

Data Center Frontier analyzes the growing adoption of “bring your own power” (BYOP) strategies by data center developers and hyperscalers.

Main finding: BYOP (onsite natural gas, modular fuel cells, co-located plants, and future advanced nuclear) is being adopted to accelerate energization, reduce grid-related costs, and close the time-to-power gap; modeling from Camus, Encoord, and Princeton’s ZERO Lab suggests a 500 MW data center using a hybrid approach could reach full operation 3–5 years faster and reduce grid-related costs by roughly $78 million per GW.
Context and examples: Live projects and corporate moves illustrate implementation: Crusoe + Engine No. 1 JV expected to draw on roughly 4.5 GW; Crusoe ordered 29 LM2500XPRESS units (~1 GW); Meta El Paso includes 366 MW behind-the-meter gas; xAI received approval for 41 turbines (1.2 GW) in Mississippi. The article documents permitting, equipment orders, turbine backlog pressures (GE Vernova ~80 GW backlog), and regulatory/community scrutiny (El Paso, Memphis/Southaven, PJM).

Apr 17, 2026

AI Infrastructure Brief: Power, Capital, and the Feeling That Something Is Tightening

Matt Vincent (Data Center Frontier) summarized the week’s announcements showing an accelerating AI data-center buildout paired with mounting power and coordination constraints.

Main observation: The industry is prioritizing power and speed: major deals and project announcements include Bloom Energy and Oracle planning up to 2.8 GW of deployment, Aligned Data Centers breaking ground on a 540 MW Project Caprock, an EdgeConneX affiliate proposing a 430 MW natural gas plant in New Albany, Ohio, proposals for 2 GW in New Mexico and 1.2 GW in Irwin County, Georgia, and Microsoft expanding datacenter operations in Cheyenne. The Maine legislature passed a temporary, exemption-inclusive ban on data centers, signaling emerging social-license constraints.
Capital and implementation details: Financial moves include Switch raising $768 million via ABS, Fluidstack reported in talks for a $1 billion round at an $18 billion valuation, and Jane Street signing a $6 billion AI cloud agreement with CoreWeave; CoreWeave also expanded a multi-year relationship with Anthropic. Utilities are signing long-term power agreements (e.g., NiSource with Alphabet and expanded ties with Amazon). AWS has launched “Project Houdini” to accelerate construction timelines. All items are factual recaps of announcements and reports from the week (no speculative outcomes included).

Apr 9, 2026

From Reactor Designs to Real Projects: SMRs Enter the Execution Era as AI Power Demand Accelerates

Data Center Frontier reports that the SMR story in early 2026 has moved from reactor design discussion to concrete industrial execution focused on permits, fuel, supply chains, financing, and customer traction.

Main announcement / action: Through Q1 2026 (notably March), multiple vendors advanced from partnership announcements to tangible progress: TerraPower secured an NRC construction permit for Natrium; Holtec had its LWA docketed for two SMR-300 units at Palisades and is pursuing preliminary construction and a partnership with Hyundai Engineering & Construction (aiming at up to 10 GW in North America); X-energy confidentially filed for an IPO (Reuters, March 20) and signed MOUs with Talen Energy (evaluating multiple four-unit Xe-100 deployments) and IHI to strengthen U.S.-Japan supply chains.
Background and other details: Vendors are addressing three execution constraints: regulatory progress, manufacturing and fuel ecosystems (e.g., NuScale expanded its Framatome fuel partnership and planned U.S. production at Richland; Oklo and Centrus plan HALEU-related joint activities at Piketon, Ohio; Kairos secured a HALEU contract with DOE), and customer alignment (growing emphasis on industrial users, utilities, and data-center-driven load). Additional milestones: GE Hitachi advanced BWRX-300 deployment work (Step 2 UK GDA, MoUs in Southeast Asia and Poland) and Rolls-Royce SMR received a UK Justification Decision and partnered on supply-chain and control-systems work.

Mar 27, 2026

In Colorado, labor and environmental groups split over data center regulations

State Sen. Cathy Kipp has sponsored an environmental regulations bill that would require large data center developers to invest in new clean energy and grid upgrades (a BYONCE “bring your own new clean energy” approach), pay prevailing wages, and participate in apprenticeship programs; an industry-backed competing bill would instead offer a 20-year sales tax break if developers follow more moderate environmental rules. This article reports on introduced legislation and committee hearings and does not announce a final law or concluded deal.

Main action: Sen. Cathy Kipp (D-Fort Collins) is sponsoring a bill to require large data centers to finance clean energy and grid upgrades (BYONCE), pay prevailing wages, and participate in apprenticeship programs as conditions for development; the bill faced extensive testimony and labor opposition during its first committee hearing.
Background & context: Labor unions warned the bill could push jobs to neighboring states (e.g., Wyoming) and some unions back a rival, industry-supported bill (HB26-1030) offering a 20-year sales tax break; lawmakers are negotiating amendments and have rescheduled the competing bill’s committee hearing while talks continue. The article references investment context (2013–2024 global private investment into data centers/AI ~$1.6 trillion) and projected construction employment effects (~6% boost in non-residential construction jobs over the next decade per BLS).

Mar 27, 2026

A Faster Path to Power: What Natrium’s NRC Approval Means for AI Infrastructure

TerraPower has received NRC approval to begin nuclear-related construction at the Kemmerer Power Station Unit 1 in Wyoming.

Main announcement: The NRC granted a construction permit allowing TerraPower (through its subsidiary US SFR Owner) to begin nuclear-related construction at Kemmerer; the NRC completed its final safety evaluation roughly 18 months after application (submitted March 2024, accepted May 2024, safety evaluation finished December 2025). The permit is not an operating license—TerraPower still must obtain a separate operating license before generation.
Background and details: The project is a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor (Natrium) coupled to molten-salt thermal storage to boost output to 500 MWe for >5.5 hours; it is a flagship DOE Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program demonstration with up to $2 billion (DOE support, 50/50 cost-share) and uses a risk-informed NEI 18-04 licensing approach endorsed by NRC Regulatory Guide 1.233.

Mar 24, 2026

The Northwest Hasn’t Learned the Lessons of WPPSS (“Whoops”)

Laura Feinstein (Sightline Institute) argues that leaders should avoid building new gas-fired power plants in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and instead prioritize data center flexibility, demand response, energy efficiency, and transmission expansion to address near-term resource adequacy concerns.

Main action and evidence: The piece urges policymakers and regulators to require utilities and large electricity users to exhaust large-load flexibility and demand-side measures before approving fossil fuel infrastructure; cites a September 2025 E3 Phase 1 analysis that reported an 8.7 GW shortfall by 2030 (commonly rounded to 9 GW), which shrinks to roughly 5.6 GW when already planned resources (e.g., Carriger solar, PacifiCorp conversions) are counted. The article highlights alternatives with concrete figures: a Duke University estimate that 3.8 GW could be gained if data centers reduced power about one week per year, and a Sylvan Energy Analytics review showing data-center curtailment can eliminate the gap in multiple scenarios.
Background and concrete details: The article documents utilities’ recent actions and legislative context: PSE has contracted for six new gas turbines (filing redacted), Grant PUD approved a (temporary) 12 MW natural gas plant, PSE’s voluntary demand response currently reduces <2% of peak demand and Washington law requires ramping to 10% savings starting 2027; it notes the U.S. Department of Energy used the E3 report to justify keeping a coal plant online past Dec 31, 2025. The author characterizes the piece as an opinion/analysis urging precaution and policy alternatives rather than announcing a new transaction or partnership.

Mar 17, 2026

US Data Centre Pipeline Hits 241 GW, Growth Slows in Q4: Wood Mackenzie

Wood Mackenzie reported that the disclosed U.S. data centre pipeline reached 241 GW by end-2025, while Q4 additions slowed to about 25 GW.

Main finding: The disclosed U.S. data centre pipeline reached 241 GW by end-2025; Q4 2025 additions were ~25 GW (about half of Q3). Large-load capacity tied to construction or electricity supply agreements is ~183 GW (≈22% of U.S. peak demand in 2025), and developers shifted to executing existing projects due to load queue constraints and speculative mega-project activity in the U.S. South and Southwest.
Additional details: The report projects major developers will increase capital spending by about $94 billion versus 2025 (growth expected to slow in 2026). Oracle Corporation has taken on significant debt for its “Stargate” campuses (many relying on on-site generation). ERCOT and PJM account for 72% of large-load commitments; Texas leads planned capacity and on-site generation, while New Mexico, Indiana, and Wyoming saw the fastest Q4 project growth. The report also notes proposed grid/interconnection rule changes in ERCOT and Southwest Power Pool that could require new generation contracts or introduce non-firm transmission/curtailment risks.

Mar 12, 2026

Why Nuclear Power is Most Viable Option for Data Centers

Ryan Mallory (CEO, Flexential) argues that SMRs will enable on-site, self-generated nuclear power for data centers.

Main announcement/action: Ryan Mallory asserts that SMRs can power data centers on-site and remove dependence on grid interconnection, enabling facilities to run continuously while controlled fission reactions operate adjacent to server racks; he cites expected SMR outputs of 50–300 MW, lead times of about 5–7 years for SMRs versus 10–12 years and ~$10 billion capital for a conventional 1.2-GW plant.
Background and details: The commentary notes interconnection wait times of around five years, U.S. data center demand rising from 176 TWh (2023) to a potential 580 TWh by 2028 (up to 12% of national demand); examples include Oklo’s Aurora at Idaho National Laboratory and TerraPower’s Natrium in Wyoming, mentions the cancelled NuScale-UAMPS project (2023) due to cost overruns, and cites nearly $9 billion committed to SMR-related development plus $50–$75 million potential early-site permitting costs.

Mar 5, 2026

U.S. Issues First Commercial Construction Permit for a Nuclear Reactor in Years

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a construction permit for a TerraPower subsidiary to build a sodium-cooled commercial reactor in western Wyoming.

Main announcement: The NRC issued its first construction permit for a commercial reactor in eight years, allowing TerraPower to begin construction within weeks on an up-to $4 billion plant near Kemmerer, Wyoming; completion is targeted for 2030 and the reactor is rated 345 megawatts (up to 500 MW peak).
Background and details: The permit is the NRC’s first for a non-light-water commercial reactor in more than 40 years; the plant will be sited beside a coal-fired plant being converted to natural gas, will use molten sodium as a coolant, and TerraPower says it is lining up sources of highly enriched uranium domestically and in South Africa. In January, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a first step toward modernizing the fuel cycle and invited states to express interest by April 1.

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