Prometheus Hyperscale announced it will not move forward with the $500 million data center campus it had proposed for Natrona County, Wyoming. The decision, first reported by the Casper Star‑Tribune and confirmed by an email from Prometheus President Trevor Neilson, caught local officials off guard.
Local officials express disappointment
Justin Farley, chief executive of the economic‑development group Advance Casper, said the withdrawal was unexpected but affirmed that the county remains eager to attract technology projects. “Advance Casper is disappointed in their decision to pull out of there,” Farley told Oil City News. “Fortunately, we have other developers that have properties under option in Natrona County, so we’ll continue to work with them.”
County Commissioner Dave North echoed the surprise, noting he first learned of the cancellation during a phone interview with the outlet. “I have absolutely no clue why they’ve decided to pull out or anything else at this point in time,” North said. “Obviously, that’s a business decision, but I don’t know where we are at or what happened on that.”
No regulatory hurdles cited
Both Commissioner North and fellow commissioner Jim Milne stressed that the county had taken no votes or regulatory actions that would have forced Prometheus to abandon the project. “I’m extremely disappointed that they weren’t able to come into our county and chose to go somewhere else,” Milne added. “It would have been a heck of an opportunity for our county.”
Milne suggested that aggressive recruitment efforts by neighboring jurisdictions may have drawn the company elsewhere, and he reiterated the county’s commitment to pursuing any future data‑center leads.
Broader context of industrial setbacks
Prometheus is the second major industrial venture to exit Natrona County in recent months. Nuclear‑energy developer Radiant Industries also withdrew after state lawmakers stalled energy‑regulation reforms. Farley linked the two setbacks to ongoing challenges with Wyoming’s utility infrastructure, saying state energy rules and power‑grid capacity remain hurdles for heavy‑industry projects.
“There is a thread of commonality between the Radiant side of things and the data center and that the state government has some legislation they’re looking at behind the meter that could open that up,” Farley explained. “We need to address utility capacity to attract projects of this scale.”
Project details and anticipated impact
When announced last spring, the 1.5‑gigawatt computing campus was slated to span 940 acres of the Falls Ranch property east of Casper, south of Interstate 25. The design called for data halls with closed‑loop liquid cooling to minimize water use, and a partnership with Evansville‑based Mesa Power Solutions to provide natural‑gas generators.
Prometheus estimated the development would have generated roughly 3,000 temporary construction jobs, 150 permanent positions, and tens of millions of dollars in annual property‑tax revenue. However, the company never filed a permit application with the Natrona County Planning and Zoning Commission before pulling the plug.
Community response
Local residents near the proposed site voiced concerns about continuous generator noise, light pollution, air emissions, truck traffic, and potential declines in property values. Some also questioned the tax benefits, noting that Wyoming exempts data‑center equipment from sales taxes.
Farley characterized the vocal critics as a minority, emphasizing that most citizens understand the need for economic diversification. “I think there is a small group of people that are resistant to it, but overall our county and the citizenry understand that we need to look at every opportunity and work with them because we need to grow,” he said.
Looking ahead
Despite the setback, Advance Casper and county officials remain optimistic about attracting other technology investors. “Natrona County is still open for business and we’re still going to pursue any leads that we get in data centers,” Farley affirmed.
A similar data‑center project continues to move forward in Uinta County, suggesting that Wyoming’s broader push for high‑tech infrastructure remains alive even as individual sites face challenges.
Original reporting: Oil City News (Casper WY) — read the source article.
