Proposed AI data center near Evanston advances as Prometheus courts major tech clients

Photo: Prometheus Hyperscale

EVANSTON, Wyo. — A proposed artificial intelligence data center just east of Evanston is moving forward with local support as developers pitch the project as an economic engine for southwest Wyoming while seeking to reassure residents about its environmental footprint.

Uinta County commissioners recently approved letters of support for Prometheus Hyperscale, a company planning a 1.25-gigawatt data center on roughly 506 acres south of Interstate 80 about 12 miles east of Evanston. According to reporting by Cowboy State Daily, the letters are addressed to executives at Meta and Microsoft, offering one of the clearest indications yet that Prometheus is attempting to attract one or both technology giants as potential customers.

The project, described by the company as its flagship development, would include both a large-scale data center and an on-site natural gas-fired power plant. Construction could begin within six months after final permitting and take four to five years to complete, according to company officials.

Local leaders say the proposal represents an opportunity to diversify an economy historically dependent on oil, gas and mining.

“We are excited to have technology come to this part of the state,” Uinta County Economic Development Director Gary Welling told Cowboy State Daily. “Oil and gas is kind of going by the wayside, right now anyway, and to diversify our county we need to look elsewhere.”

Commission Chairman Mark Anderson echoed that sentiment, saying he hopes the project brings additional high-paying jobs to the region as traditional energy industries face uncertainty.

Residents from throughout Uinta County packed an open house in early June, criticizing the weekday afternoon scheduling and cramped venue while voicing concerns about water consumption, environmental impacts, electricity demand, noise and light pollution, a potential influx of workers and temporary housing, the type of data the facility would process, and broader national security issues.

According to a profile published by Business Wyoming, Prometheus and its Build Wyoming initiative estimate the development could support nearly 12,000 jobs by 2029, including approximately 8,000 construction positions and more than 1,500 indirect jobs in sectors such as retail and food service. The company said long-term employment could range from dozens to hundreds of permanent positions depending on the project’s final size.

The proposal arrives amid growing competition among states to host AI infrastructure as demand for computing power surges. Build Wyoming Director Eric Schlidt told Business Wyoming that the project aligns with national efforts to expand domestic artificial intelligence capacity and argued Wyoming’s abundant energy resources make it well suited for energy-intensive facilities.

The data center would consume up to 1.25 gigawatts of electricity—an amount greater than the residential electricity use of the entire state of Wyoming—and would rely primarily on natural gas generation. Company founder Trenton Thornock previously expressed interest in incorporating nuclear power in the future.

Water use has emerged as one of the central issues surrounding data center development across the West, particularly after controversies over proposed facilities in Utah.

Prometheus says its Evanston campus will use closed-loop cooling technology employing a water-glycol mixture rather than continuously consuming water for server cooling. Company representatives have stated the coolant will be trucked to the site and reused for years before replacement, and that the facility will not draw cooling water from the nearby Bear River.

A private on-site well would supply domestic plumbing needs, but the company maintains the cooling system itself is designed to avoid significant water consumption.

At the June open house, Thornock said the facility’s annual water use would be comparable to that of 15 homes and that its servers would be cooled using a closed-loop system circulating a 25% propylene glycol and 75% water mixture, requiring replacement only once every six years.

The assurances come as communities across the region grapple with how to regulate increasingly large AI infrastructure projects. Public scrutiny at the meetings in Uinta County mirrors concerns raised in neighboring Utah over the proposed multibillion-dollar data center development in Box Elder County.

Rocco O’Neill, Evanston’s community development director, told Business Wyoming that local leaders believe the investment could strengthen the area’s economy and tax base for decades.