Google plans $17 billion investment in first Wyoming data center

Google said it will invest $17 billion over the long term in its first Wyoming data center. The planned Laramie County project would combine natural-gas fuel cells, other gas generation and proposed carbon capture.

The project calls for a 702-megawatt fuel-cell development using Bloom Energy technology, along with power from gas generators operated by Tallgrass Energy and Black Hills Energy. Google said it will pay for all electricity the data center uses and cover infrastructure needs caused directly by its growth. The company also plans to use air cooling instead of evaporative cooling to reduce demand on local water resources.

DataPhoenix recently covered Google’s planned Malaysia data-center expansion.

Separately, American Electric Power plans to invest about $4 billion in the 702 MW fuel-cell project under a 20-year power-purchase agreement with Google. AEP said in October that construction was expected to begin in 2026 and the project was expected to be fully operational by the end of 2028.

Google said planned carbon-capture and storage equipment would capture and permanently store a large majority of the fuel-cell project’s carbon emissions at Tallgrass’s nearby Eastern Wyoming Sequestration Hub. The company did not disclose an exact capture rate. The project materials provide no operating data, final engineering design or lifecycle-emissions analysis, so AEP’s description of the planned system as near-zero-emissions power remains a forward-looking company characterization.

The data center will also draw electricity from Tallgrass and Black Hills Energy gas generators. Google said a front-end engineering and design study is evaluating whether carbon capture can be added to Tallgrass combined-cycle turbines. That study is an assessment, not a commitment that capture equipment will be installed.

Google named Tallgrass, Black Hills Energy, AEP and Related Digital as project partners. Related Digital identifies the proposed site as Switchgrass Industrial Business Park. Google’s announcement did not give an opening date, compute capacity, construction schedule for the data center itself or a breakdown of when the $17 billion would be spent.

Google has projected about 2,500 construction roles at the project’s peak and about 250 long-term operations jobs. Those figures are company forecasts presented to residents, not realized employment totals. Google also said the project would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes for Laramie County and School District 1, but it did not disclose the estimate’s methodology, time horizon or an independent fiscal analysis.

The company said its community spending will focus on K-12 education, workforce development and economic opportunities, including grants for science and technology education, entrepreneurs and skilled-trades training. Google also said it is forming a Community Council with Tallgrass, Black Hills Energy, Related Digital, AEP and Bloom Energy to address growth concerns raised during local engagement.

Google said it met with more than 200 Laramie County residents at a downtown Cheyenne meeting and received feedback about economic benefits, job training and the effects of data-center growth.