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WY — State Policy Updated 2026-07-17

Wyoming

Sales & use tax exemption Other incentives Zoning / land-use controls Environmental constraints Moratoriums

1) Incentive programs

Sales & use tax exemption (primary data-center-specific incentive)

Other incentives (general business-climate attributes)

  • Wyoming continues to promote its low-tax business climate, including no corporate state income tax and no franchise tax, as a general economic-development attribute rather than a data-center-only incentive. Wyoming Business Council, accessed 2026-06-10
  • Wyoming’s April 2026 industry/economic-development fact sheet characterized the data-center sales/use-tax exemption as having generated nearly $7 billion in Wyoming activity while reporting $198 million in estimated sales and use tax revenue forgone from 2010-2024; this is an advocacy/economic-development claim, not an independent audit. Cheyenne LEADS, 2026-04-14
  • The 2026 Legislature did not enact a new data-center-specific incentive, repeal the existing data-center exemption, or add a new data-center reporting requirement in the bills reviewed: HB0155 (sales and use tax exemptions-reporting requirements) was not considered for introduction, and SF0079 (sales and use tax reorganization) was enacted as Chapter 19 without a data-center-specific repeal in the enrolled text. Wyoming Legislature HB0155, 2026-02-13; Wyoming Legislature SF0079, 2026-02-27; Wyoming Legislature SF0079 enrolled act, 2026-02-27
  • The Wyoming Business Council’s May 2026 program catalog confirms that the data-center sales-tax-exemption certification program remains active with no end date and identifies Microsoft, Meta, Prometheus, CleanSpark, Related Digital, and H6 Coin as certified or qualifying projects; the catalog does not describe a 2026 expansion, repeal, or new incentive tier. Wyoming Business Council, 2026-05
  • The same catalog recommends that WBC and the Department of Revenue explore legislation requiring companies that use the exemption to report outcomes. This is an agency recommendation, not an enacted reporting requirement; HB0155 still failed during the 2026 session. Wyoming Business Council, 2026-05; Wyoming Legislature HB0155, 2026-02-13

2) Restrictions and moratoriums

Zoning / land-use controls (local)

Environmental constraints (state permitting)

Moratoriums

  • No statewide moratorium: no Wyoming statewide data-center moratorium was enacted during the 2026 budget session; instead, Governor Mark Gordon issued Executive Order 2026-03 creating a “Data Centers the Wyoming Way” framework and directing executive-branch coordination. Wyoming Governor, 2026-06-03
  • Cheyenne moratorium rejected: the Cheyenne City Council rejected a proposed one-year pause on new data-center development by an 8-1 vote after hours of public testimony on May 26-27, 2026. WyoFile, 2026-05-27; Wyoming Public Media, 2026-05-28
  • Regional contrast: Wyoming Public Media reported that other Mountain West jurisdictions have adopted or considered moratoriums, but Cheyenne rejected its pause while still acknowledging demands for local guardrails. Wyoming Public Media, 2026-06-03

3) Local governance & community response

  • Executive-order framework: Executive Order 2026-03 emphasizes ratepayer protection, water sustainability, wildlife and natural-resource protection, local authority, workforce priority, transparency, national security, and revenue-driven economic growth; the governor’s press release says agencies must coordinate on regulatory efficiency, transparency, workforce readiness, and interagency cooperation. Wyoming Governor, 2026-06-03
  • Cheyenne/Laramie County opposition and accountability demands: the rejected Cheyenne moratorium debate documented resident concerns about water, property values, noise, wildlife, and community change, while some council members said the city should demand more from corporate partners even without a moratorium. WyoFile, 2026-05-27
  • Workforce housing / “man camp”: Iron Guard Workforce Housing proposed up to 800 modular units for as many as 5,600 people near Cheyenne-area data-center construction. After postponing the June 2 vote, the applicant asked Laramie County to postpone the application indefinitely while it looked for another site; the proposal therefore remained unapproved as of July 17. Wyoming Public Media, 2026-06-01; Cowboy State Daily, 2026-06-12
  • Uinta County / Prometheus: after the May 27 planning recommendation, Uinta County commissioners unanimously approved Prometheus Hyperscale’s conditional-use permit on June 16 for a 506-acre Evanston-area campus planned at 1.25 GW initially with a path to 5 GW. Prometheus says the campus will use an islanded on-site natural-gas microgrid and closed-loop cooling, but residents remained divided over water, emissions, noise, livestock, wildlife, and the project’s scale. Prometheus Hyperscale, 2026-06-17; Cowboy State Daily, 2026-06-17
  • Cheyenne / Microsoft annexation: the City Council approved Microsoft’s Highlands annexation, covering 3,459.99 acres, by a 6-3 vote on July 13 after extensive public testimony. During the preceding June 22 reading, the council rejected an amendment that would have required a $50 million community-benefits agreement by an 8-3 vote. The annexation changes the land’s jurisdiction but does not itself approve a completed data-center site plan. City of Cheyenne, accessed 2026-07-17; Cowboy State Daily, 2026-06-23; Cowboy State Daily, 2026-07-14
  • Platte County / Site Layer 4: Site Layer 4 applied to rezone 5,344 acres of ranchland east of Wheatland from agricultural to industrial use for a proposed $26 billion data center and co-located generation campus. The application remained pending as of July 17; more than 400 comments and resident concerns about groundwater, drought, wildlife, pollution, and viewsheds show that the project is a proposal, not an approved development. Cowboy State Daily, 2026-07-13; WyoFile, 2026-07-15
  • Natrona/Converse counties / Prometheus: eastern Natrona County residents opposed Prometheus’ proposed power plant and workforce camp, and county commissioners declined to use a planned-unit-development shortcut, favoring review through Wyoming’s Industrial Siting process. The broader Falls Ranch proposal was still in preconstruction review, with reported concepts ranging from an initial 200 MW phase to as much as 1.5 GW. Cowboy State Daily, 2026-06-17
  • Select Water Committee attention: WyoFile reported that Wyoming’s Select Water Committee questioned Prometheus, Microsoft, and Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins in May 2026 about data-center water demand; the committee took no legislative action at that meeting and planned to take up the topic again in August. WyoFile, 2026-05-19
  • Local water claims are contested but increasingly specific: Cheyenne LEADS’ April 2026 fact sheet reported active data centers used 1.2% of Cheyenne municipal water in calendar year 2024, while WyoFile reported May 2026 testimony putting the industry at 1.48% of Cheyenne water consumption with plans on the books potentially raising the figure to 3%. Cheyenne LEADS, 2026-04-14; WyoFile, 2026-05-27

4) Legislative activity (2024-2026)

5) Notable projects & operators

  • Microsoft expansion: Microsoft announced on April 14 that it intended to purchase about 3,200 acres for new Cheyenne data-center development and reported more than $68 million in completed and planned off-site infrastructure improvements. The city subsequently approved the separate 3,459.99-acre Highlands annexation on July 13, advancing local jurisdictional review while leaving project-specific site-plan and construction approvals to later proceedings. Microsoft Source, 2026-04-14; City of Cheyenne, accessed 2026-07-17; Cowboy State Daily, 2026-07-14
  • Tallgrass + Crusoe / Project Jade — now Google Project Tembo: Laramie County’s January approvals remain the basis for the campus, paired with Tallgrass’ BFC Power and Cheyenne Power Hub. A June 30 site-plan amendment revealed Google, through Jupiter Star Holdings LLC, as developer of the renamed Project Tembo: a 716-acre, 2.7 GW campus with four data halls and a 2031 target. Crusoe said its role had paused at the customer’s request, Google replaced it as developer, and Tallgrass said work on the associated power hub continued; the county is displaying the Tembo site-plan and conditional-use materials indefinitely. Cowboy State Daily, 2026-07-08; Data Center Dynamics, 2026-07-14; Laramie County, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Prometheus Hyperscale: Prometheus’ Wyoming buildout accelerated after February: its Evanston-area project received a unanimous county conditional-use permit on June 16 for 506 acres and 1.25 GW initially, while its separate Falls Ranch concept remained in preconstruction review. Prometheus Hyperscale, 2026-06-17; Cowboy State Daily, 2026-06-17
  • Related Digital: Related Digital’s $1.2 billion Cheyenne Phase I was under construction, with its first 184,000-square-foot building reported near completion and expected to enter service in late 2026 for CoreWeave. Published power figures vary by definition: the Wyoming Business Council lists 302 MW of IT capacity, while Related describes the broader campus as 400 MW. Wyoming Business Council, 2026-05; Cowboy State Daily, 2026-06-14
  • Site Layer 4 / Wheatland: the newly disclosed $26 billion, 5,344-acre Platte County proposal remained at the rezoning stage as of July 17; no approved MW total or construction authorization was identified. Cowboy State Daily, 2026-07-13
  • NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center: NSF announced on February 12 that it expected to transfer management and operations of the Cheyenne research-computing facility to a third-party operator while seeking continuity of operations. A federal court granted UCAR a preliminary injunction on June 1, preserving the existing operating arrangement while the litigation proceeds; no shutdown or completed transfer had occurred by July 17. National Science Foundation, 2026-02-12; University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, 2026-06-01
  • Meta and existing Cheyenne operators: the Wyoming Business Council’s May catalog says Meta’s certified first phase carried an $800 million investment and 60 direct jobs, and that a second phase had begun. That expansion was proceeding when the wastewater dispute described above became public. More broadly, WyoFile reported that Cheyenne already hosts more than a dozen computing centers and may be entertaining 40 to 70 potential new facilities, while Microsoft has operated locally since 2012. Wyoming Business Council, 2026-05; WyoFile, 2026-05-27; Microsoft Source, 2026-04-14

Primary sources consulted (most relevant)