Project dossier · Cheyenne, Wyoming

Microsoft Cheyenne Expansion Operating

Microsoft announced intent to acquire ~3,200 acres in southeast Cheyenne for a multiyear data-center expansion, building on its Black Hills Energy partnership.

Key facts

Operator
Microsoft
Size
3,200 ac
Location
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Stage today
Operating

Source

What to do next

Next step: Already operating — the leverage now is enforcement: noise and water conditions, tax revenue tracking, and any expansion filing, which reopens the record.

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What has happened so far (23 events)

  • 2010-03-05incentive
    Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed HB 67, exempting data centers that buy or rent more than $2 million in computing equipment annually from state sales tax. · source
  • 2012-01-01operational
    Microsoft established its first data center presence in Cheyenne, Wyoming. · source
  • 2014-01-01construction
    Microsoft expanded its original Cheyenne data center footprint, adding capacity to its existing campus. · source
  • 2021-01-01operational
    Microsoft opened two additional data centers in Cheyenne, further building out its Wyoming campus. · source
  • 2025-01-01incentive
    The Wyoming Legislature extended the state data-center sales-and-use tax exemption through 2042. · source
  • 2025-07-01construction
    Microsoft, with JE Dunn as general contractor, began heavy earthwork on a new data center campus on HR Ranch Road east of Cheyenne, with completion targeted for early 2026. · source
  • 2026-04-14announcement
    Microsoft announced intent to purchase roughly 3,200 acres in Cheyenne to roughly triple its data center footprint, pledging over $68 million in off-site infrastructure improvements and no reliance on local property tax incentives. · source
  • 2026-04-14utility
    Microsoft detailed a utility partnership with Black Hills Energy under the Large Power Contract Service (LPCS) tariff, under which Microsoft funds the full cost of electricity infrastructure so other ratepayers are not burdened. · source
  • 2026-04-14environmental
    Microsoft said it would minimize water use and fund replenishment projects in Cheyenne, with partners including Trout Unlimited, expected to restore an estimated 566 million gallons of water. · source
  • 2026-04-27protest
    Opposition to Cheyenne data center growth intensified as the city moved to accommodate further development, with residents raising sustained objections. · source
  • 2026-04-28hearing
    Angry Cheyenne residents spoke out at a public meeting against the proposed annexation and Microsoft data center project. · source
  • 2026-04-29report
    A Wyoming state legislator said the state needs to determine how revenue from the data center boom should be distributed among local governments and residents. · source
  • 2026-05-08environmental
    Wyoming residents pressed for clarity on where water for the expanding data center boom would come from in the semi-arid region. · source
  • 2026-05-27vote
    The Cheyenne City Council rejected a proposed 12-month moratorium on new data center development by an 8-1 vote after hours of debate over water, noise, and long-term community impacts. · source
  • 2026-05-28coverage
    Wyoming Public Media reported on the city council rejection of a data center moratorium, noting no pause on development despite resident concerns. · source
  • 2026-06-02hearing
    The Cheyenne Planning Commission held a five-hour hearing on Microsoft 3,200-acre southside expansion, recommending denial for most components. · source
  • 2026-06-05vote
    Microsoft data center annexation/zoning plans failed to secure the Cheyenne Planning Commission endorsement, with two parcels near Laramie County Community College falling short of the required votes. · source
  • 2026-06-12report
    Coverage explained Wyoming data center sales tax exemption, worth up to $22.6 million annually, and its extension through 2042. · source
  • 2026-07-06vote
    The Cheyenne City Council rejected a proposal to slow down the Microsoft land annexation process, clearing the way for a final vote. · source
  • 2026-07-13vote
    After a seven-hour public hearing with overwhelming resident opposition, the Cheyenne City Council passed Ordinance 4687 by a 6-3 vote, annexing roughly 3,460 acres into the city for Microsoft planned data center campus. · source
  • 2026-07-14coverage
    Reporting confirmed Cheyenne grew by 3,500 acres after the controversial Microsoft-related annexation vote following more than five hours of council discussion. · source
  • 2026-07-20protest
    Opponents launched a referendum petition drive seeking to reverse the Cheyenne City Council 3,460-acre annexation vote, needing roughly 2,700 signatures within 20 days. · source
  • 2026-08-07protest
    Referendum organizers submitted 3,275-plus signatures seeking a public vote to reverse the Microsoft annexation, exceeding the roughly 2,739 registered-voter threshold required to force a November ballot measure. · source

Find the paper trail

Find the paper trail (0 filed · 11 places to look)

State environmental permits

Backup generators, water withdrawal and stormwater are permitted by the state, usually earlier and in more detail than anything filed locally.

County & town filings

The rezoning application, site plan, traffic and noise studies, staff report and every revision.

  • Search Cheyenne planning filingssearchPlanning departments post application files under many different names. Find the department, then ask the clerk for the application number — that number unlocks everything else.
  • Search Cheyenne property records / GISsearchThe parcel record names the buying LLC and the sale date, which is what ties an anonymous filing to an operator.

Utility & grid records

The electricity request is filed with the grid operator and the utility long before the town hears about it — and states the real load.

Federal databases

Works anywhere, and covers the operator's record at its other sites.

  • EPA ECHO facility searchEvery federally-reported air, water and waste permit at a facility, plus its inspection and violation history. Search by address or draw a radius around the site.
  • EPA EnvirofactsThe same underlying records, queryable by county — useful for 'what else is permitted near this site' rather than one facility.
  • EPA Facility Registry ServiceResolves the shell LLC on a permit to the facility it belongs to. Worth a look when the filing name means nothing locally.

These are places to look, not evidence that anything has been filed. Links were checked on 2026-08-21; search links are queries, not records. What to ask for.

Recent news

11 stories tracked since 2026-05-14 across 7 outlets. 7× Local officials are moving to pause or block the project. 3× A community is pushing back on a nearby data center. Most recent: “Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes institute 3-year data center ban” (KGOU, 2026-10-06).

Automated news aggregation, not human-verified — follow each link to the original outlet. Part of the story tracker, 11 headlines archived.

Around here

Other tracked projects in Wyoming

Cite this page: GridWatch AI, “Microsoft Cheyenne Expansion”, aigridwatch.com/projects/microsoft-cheyenne-expansion, retrieved 2026-10-11.

As of August 2026 (2m ago) · changes weekly — re-check before citing

A working set of identified proposals a community can track, not a census — most of the country's activity is not in here yet. Pennsylvania is the exception: its rows are synced from PA DEP's own data-center permit tracker, so the state's coverage is close to complete and carries the permit trail with it. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to reporting or the governing body's own record and were read on that date; rows marked *unverified* have no source on record — a lead to check, not a fact to cite. **Stage is derived, not asserted.** *Hearing scheduled*, *Awaiting decision*, *Approved* and *Withdrawn* are computed from each row's milestone dates on every rebuild, so a hearing date that has passed stops reading 'scheduled'. Hearings get moved and projects re-file under new names — treat a scheduled date as the earliest to act by, and confirm with the clerk before relying on it. Leads are mined into data/project_candidates.json and promoted here only after a human reads a primary source.

Part of the data center project tracker — open data, CC BY 4.0 (JSON · CSV).

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