CHEYENNE — Data centers and Wyoming’s role in hosting them are greater than a local issue for communities debating whether they want that development or not; they represent a national security issue the state’s next governor needs to address.
That’s one of the main takeaways from a crowded Republican gubernatorial candidate forum Friday afternoon.
“We are in an AI arms race with China, and President Trump has been very bullish on data center development,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder. “We have some resources here in the state of Wyoming to keep them going.”
She said she shares the concerns people in Cheyenne, Evanston, Casper and Laramie have already expressed about water usage and how data centers could impact power rates.
The answer isn’t banning data centers, she said, it’s “ensuring there is not water usage pulling from our resources … and making sure that we do not have utility rate (increases) that are on the backs of Wyoming people.”
She was on stage in the Grand Ballroom at Little America in Cheyenne with Republican primary opponents Brent Bien and Eric Barlow for a forum hosted by the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce.
Bien said that as he’s been traveling around Wyoming, “the vast majority of the folks are opposed to these, and I mean, they’re popping up all over the place.”
A career military man who spent 28 years in the Marines, and ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for governor in 2022, said people are afraid of data centers because they don’t understand or trust them.
“I think what’s going on here is that the people have been left out of the loop,” Bien said. “And ultimately, it does comes down to the people.”
“If people are brought into the equation early and they understand what’s going on, then I do believe they’ll be far more receptive.”
State Sen. Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, echoed some of what Bien said about people’s fear of data centers.
A lot of those concerns are being addressed by the rapidly evolving technology that’s being built into data centers, Barlow said, referencing how directional drilling revolutionized the oil and gas industry.
He also said that AI isn’t coming, it’s here.
“You have to think about what’s driving the demand” for data centers, said Barlow, a veterinarian who also served in the Marine Corps. “We’re part of the demand. Consumerism is part of the demand.
“Those rectangular devices some of you are looking at right now? That’s part of the demand, whether you’re asking it to do something artificially and intelligent — and I don’t know if those two words should go together.”
Follow The Money
Moderated by chamber chairman and Cheyenne Regional Medical Center President and CEO Tim Thornell, Friday’s forum featured three of the four registered Republicans on the primary ballot.
More than 300 people were packed into the ballroom to listen to the candidates address questions prepared by the chamber of commerce. Each had up to three minutes to respond.
When asked what Thornell admitted was a “loaded question” about how Wyoming should spend its money, all three expressed a need to be careful and frugal.
“We need to make sure we fund those essential services of government,” said Bien, who also said he drove the ballot initiative on this year’s ballot that, if passed, will allow people to claim up to 50% of their property tax bills as exempt.
“The largest budget in our state history just recently passed, you know, and we got to figure out where’s all this money actually going,” he said. “Is it really being spent on those essential services that we have out there?
“We know that there’s a lot of nonessential things that are out there.”
He claimed that residential property taxes are up 73% in Wyoming over the last six years, making it impossible for people to keep their homes or buy homes.
“The bottom line is that I’m more concerned about people staying in their homes than I am some of these frivolous things that we end up talking about across the state,” Bien said.
Barlow reminded the crowd that some of what Wyoming spends is constitutionally required, like education and public safety.
He also pointed out that minerals like coal, oil and natural gas “are paying 50% of (the state’s) bills on a daily basis.”
The Legislature also put money in savings this past session, and that money and the interest off it “is actually paying for 30% of our bills for the state of Wyoming,” Barlow said. “Think about that.”
Degenfelder, who was endorsed by President Trump in her bid to become governor before she announced her candidacy, also said she’s concerned about property taxes.
“People are being pushed out of their homes, they can’t stay in their homes because they can’t afford their property taxes,” she said. “That’s a problem.”
At the same time, “I’m not willing to compromise on basic services,” Degenfelder added. “I’m not willing to compromise on health and safety. If my house is on fire, I want a fire truck to show up right now.”
Being able to provide basic services is “why we keep a lean government,” she said.
Stop Talking About It And Do Something
Another issue all three agree on is that there needs to be more action after decades of officials and state leaders saying something needs to be done to keep young people from leaving Wyoming.
The issue isn’t money, said Bien. He said Wyoming spends about $22,000 per K-12 student, which jumps to about $35,000 including capital construction investments.
“I don’t think it’s a money issue. I think what this is is a coordination issue,” he said.
There’s a disconnect between education and industry when businesses say they need certain skills and Wyoming students aren’t learning them.
“Right now in this community, I know that the demand is for trades, for an electrician, for someone who knows heating and air conditioning controls,” Barlow said. “That is a pretty dang good job.
“In fact, it probably pays better than being a veterinarian — even if I was a good veterinarian.”
That last jab at himself drew laughter from the crowd.
He pointed out there is some work being done to reverse that outward migration, like teaching certified nursing assistant (CNA) courses in high schools.
“Someday I’m going to be in a nursing home and that CNA is going to be looking after me, right?” Barlow said
Wyoming’s young talent leaving the state “is a problem we’ve all experienced,” Degenfelder said. “It may be your son or daughter, someone that you worked with, your friends leaving the state of Wyoming.
“We can’t just keep talking about it,” she continued. “We have to solve this problem.”
One way to do that is to stop putting a focus on training and educating people for jobs they can’t find in Wyoming.
“Moving away from trying to prepare kids for jobs that don’t even exist in Wyoming,” she said. “(Then) you talk to our businesses, like all of you in this room, and we can’t fill our jobs. There’s a disconnect there.”
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.