After Attorney General Says Don’t, Converse County Won’t Fast-Track Data Centers

Converse County government has rescinded an earlier order that, according to commissioners, could have both fast-tracked data center development and given the county more say in the process. The Converse County Commission on April 21 passed a resolution authorizing a more-than 140-acre industrial park near the county line. On Tuesday, the body reversed course after the Wyoming Attorney General’s office reportedly said counties without zoning provisions cannot use that fast-track mechanism. Public outcry surfaced in the four weeks between the two votes.

The commission’s April 21 resolution referenced a state law provision that exempts non-mineral processing facilities built in existing industrial parks from the state Industrial Siting Division’s certification procedures. Commission Vice-Chair Rick Grant told Cowboy State Daily that the industrial park was not meant specifically for a Prometheus Hyperscale data center, and the county has not received an application for any such development. However, data center developers have been reaching out “on a weekly basis, trying to figure out, ‘How do we do this, where do we go?'” Grant said. He noted that Converse County qualifies as an “opportunity zone,” offering tax credits for investors.

But the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office advised against the move, according to a Tuesday letter from Converse County Attorney Quentin Richardson to the commission. Converse County does not have land zoning mechanisms. “The Wyoming Attorney General believes that the County lacks specific authority to promulgate this resolution” under the Industrial Siting laws, Richardson’s letter said. Instead, the AG advised that the county could craft industrial zones under state laws authorizing subdivisions, which provide for extensive public notice and input.

Between the April 21 resolution and the Tuesday reversal, “panic” erupted in the county, according to state Rep. Kevin Campbell, R-Glenrock. Campbell’s phone rang constantly. “You know how panic is,” Campbell said. “Everybody over on the county line and all those little communities throughout the Platte Valley, they heard ‘fast track’ and (the county was) going to bypass the Industrial Siting Act. Immediately people lost their minds.” Campbell issued a public letter saying residents felt “completely ignored and left in the dark” and that the commissioners “deliberately exploited a statutory loophole.” He called the Industrial Siting Council process a “safety net” for reviewing multibillion-dollar projects.

Grant disputed Campbell’s claims, saying around half the points in his letter are not factual. “We have a representative who is spouting off the issues and has never come to talk to the commission about what we’re doing,” Grant said. He called Campbell’s reference to a separate wind farm project a conflation. Campbell responded that two counties sit within his district, and the industrial park issue erupted quickly. “Is it my job to keep track of every single thing the county commissioners do?” he asked.

Grant said the fast-track exemption is not a bypass but a process the Legislature created—shorter than the potentially 18-month state process. Developers would still have to answer questions and conduct studies on traffic, workforce, and economics. He noted that the county does its business in public and posts agendas. The April 21 agenda referenced a resolution “Establishing a Process and Criteria for Designation of Industrial Parks for Purposes of an Industrial Siting Exemption Request Within Converse County,” but did not use the words “data center.”

Grant acknowledged that there is a “loud group in Glenrock that don’t like any new development to happen. They think everything should be run off of coal, oil and gas, and that all this new development should go away.” He noted that new data centers are proposing closed-loop systems that consume less water, and Wyoming is a sizable producer of natural gas that could meet increased energy demand. Commission Chair Jim Willox said, “What the next steps look like are unclear at the moment.” Prometheus Hyperscale did not respond to a request for comment.