Developers Now Targeting Public Lands To Build Huge AI Data Centers

A data center project on about 80 acres of federal public land in Nevada moved forward in June without public comment, aligning with President Trump's 2025 executive order to speed up environmental reviews and identify federal land for data centers. The Townsite data center project near Boulder City, Nevada, is believed to be the first on Bureau of Land Management land, potentially setting a precedent for AI data centers on public lands nationwide. Wyoming BLM spokesperson Courtney Whiteman said there are no current applications for data centers on BLM land in Wyoming, but U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis and Sen. John Barrasso expressed support for AI infrastructure while emphasizing local input.

Plans to build a data center on about 80 acres of federal public land in Nevada quietly moved forward in June on property originally given a green light for a solar energy project. There was no public comment period and no town hall meetings to discuss the proposal. The move aligned with President Trump’s 2025 executive order instructing agencies to speed up environmental reviews and identify available federal land for more efficiently permitting data centers. The Townsite data center project just outside of Boulder City, Nevada, is believed to be the first that could move forward on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The project could set a precedent for building AI data centers across the country on public land. It isn't happening in Wyoming — yet — although the state has one of the most aggressive data center developments as companies propose huge projecrts here. “I can tell you from a Wyoming point of view we have no current project applications for data centers on BLM land,” Wyoming BLM spokesperson Courtney Whiteman told Cowboy State Daily. Wyoming's congressional delegation remains broadly supportive of expanding the nation’s artificial intelligence infrastructure, though they continue to emphasize the role of state and local input. U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis told Cowboy State Daily she has not been involved in the Nevada project and is not aware of a similar proposal in Wyoming. She tied Trump's executive order to the broader competition with China over artificial intelligence and said data centers can provide Wyoming communities with tax revenue, high-paying jobs and a new way to capitalize on the state's energy resources. Data centers, she said, can be developed “while respecting and protecting Wyoming's environment.” Lummis has also introduced legislation aimed at creating clearer federal rules for connecting extremely large electricity users, such as data centers, to the nation's transmission grid. U.S. Sen. John Barrasso likewise said he supports Trump's efforts to strengthen America's leadership in artificial intelligence and described Wyoming as “America's energy breadbasket.” But he said development on federal land should not happen without local involvement. “Development of federal land, including the construction of new data centers, deserves meaningful input from state and local governments and the public,” Barrasso said. “The people of Wyoming expect to have their voices heard.” For now, that voice is not being tested by a Wyoming data center proposal on BLM land. But with the federal government actively looking to make its land available for AI infrastructure — and with Wyoming already attracting some of the country's largest data center projects — the question may not go away. Nevada's Test Case In 2023, Townsite Solar 2, LLC, the project developer, received a BLM right-of-way grant for solar power generation and a battery energy storage system adjacent to Boulder City. After Trump’s 2025 executive order to accelerate data center infrastructure on public lands, the company applied to the BLM to amend that right-of-way for a data center. The BLM approved the amendment June 26, aligning its decision with that executive order, according to a BLM statement announcing the decision. Boulder City officials were caught off-guard, city spokeswoman Lisa LaPlante said. The city is 26 miles southeast of Las Vegas near Hoover Dam. According to LaPlante, Boulder City had been separately considering a proposal from Townsite Solar 2 to build a data center on about 88.5 acres of city-owned land. According to an online economic report by the developer, a data center would bring in more than eight times the tax revenue that the proposed solar facility would over a 20-year span. Property tax revenue would rake in an estimated $5.1 million a year. That process moved forward with public hearings and discussions among public officials, with the Boulder City planning commission ultimately voting 6-1 not to move forward with the data center. While the city was weighing the proposal, the developer was working to secure approval from the BLM for the adjacent federal parcel, LaPlante said. The move drew the ire of Boulder City officials because the data center proposal on federal owned public land did not allow officials or members of the public to weigh in. In July, Boulder City unanimously agreed to file an appeal with the U.S. Department of the Interior, arguing the federal agency did not adequately consult the city or provide it with an opportunity for public input. The appeal requested a stay on the project while the litigation proceeds. Rep. Dina Titus fired off a letter to the BLM questioning its review process for data centers on public lands and its unilateral approval of the one adjacent to Boulder City. LaPlante said she doesn’t know when the city will receive a response to its appeal. “Unfortunately, they don’t give us a timeline,” she said. “We’re at the mercy of what happens next.” According to a statement from the BLM, however, the project is consistent with Trump's executive order. "This project reflects the growing role of public lands in supporting the infrastructure needed to power innovation, advanced technology and the nation's future economic growth, while advancing Interior's commitment to responsible stewardship and sustainable use of public lands for current and future generations," the statement reads. What Trump's Order Says Trump's July 2025 executive order, titled “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure,” explicitly calls for the federal government to use federal land and resources for the development of data centers. The order defines a data center project as a facility requiring more than 100 megawatts of new electrical load dedicated to AI-related computing. It directs the Interior and Energy departments to identify and offer appropriate federal sites for qualifying projects, subject to applicable laws. The administration has argued that reducing federal regulatory burdens can help the United States rapidly build the computing infrastructure needed to compete globally in artificial intelligence. That puts states with large amounts of federal land – including Wyoming – in a unique position. BLM manages about 18 million acres in Wyoming, comprising a significant portion of the state's land base. Wyoming's Data Center Boom Wyoming is becoming a major destination for large-scale data centers. Microsoft has operated data centers in the Cheyenne area for years and is planning a major expansion. Meta is developing a roughly 960-acre data center campus in Cheyenne’s High Plains Business Park. And what was once known as Project Jade – now Project Tembo – is moving forward on a 716-acre site south of Cheyenne. Google has been identified as the company behind the project, which has plans for multiple data center buildings. However, none of the state’s data center developments are on public lands. Instead, they are on private ranch land and in industrial parks. That means Wyoming is already experiencing the data center boom without having to resolve the questions that have surfaced in Nevada over what happens when a federal agency approves a data center inside the jurisdiction of a local government. Nothing in the Nevada project guarantees a similar proposal will come to Wyoming. But the federal policy framework is in place. Former Assistant Secretary of the Interior Rob Wallace cautioned against any data center developer that tries to bypass state and local processes to fast-track a build. “I think any developer that wants to build a data center in Wyoming would be ill-served to use an expedited process that overruled a state and county and municipal concerns,” Wallace told Cowboy State Daily. “It would just be a bad business move.” The proposed Nevada data center is within Boulder City’s jurisdiction, LaPlante said. That would mean that the property is subject to city emergency services. That raises a question for any future Wyoming project on federal land: Who provides the roads, water, fire protection, emergency services and other infrastructure a massive data center requires? Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.