Google to Invest $17 Billion in Wyoming: First Data Center in Laramie County, 702 MW Fuel Cells

What happened

The project was announced on Google's official blog by Steve Walter, vice president of global infrastructure and energy, with partners Tallgrass Energy, Black Hills Energy, American Electric Power (AEP) and Related Digital, and the campus sited in Laramie County near Cheyenne. Google says the investment is long-term, aimed at putting down roots in Wyoming and delivering lasting benefits for Laramie County families and businesses, but gave no construction or opening timetable for the campus.

The power plan centers on natural-gas fuel cells: Google contracted with AEP for a 702 MW commercial-scale fuel-cell development with carbon capture and storage, which Google calls the largest planned development of its kind; the fuel cells convert natural gas into electricity through an electrochemical reaction and are made in America by Bloom Energy. The carbon-capture technology will capture a large majority of the carbon emissions for permanent geologic storage at Tallgrass's nearby Eastern Wyoming Sequestration Hub, bringing Google's total contracted carbon-capture capacity to nearly 1 gigawatt.

The community commitments were announced with the power plan: Google expects the project to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in local property taxes for Laramie County and School District 1, and Google and its partners are standing up a Community Council to develop solutions for Cheyenne as data centers grow; Google previously hosted a community meeting in downtown Cheyenne attended by more than 200 Laramie County residents, whose priorities centered on economic benefits, job training and the impact of data center growth on the community. The announcement came two days after the Nov 3 midterm elections, in which 40 of 41 local data-center restriction measures were reported to have passed; Google's announcement did not mention the election.

Key facts

1. Announced by: Google, Nov 5, 2026; Steve Walter, vice president of global infrastructure and energy, announced it on Google's official blog
2. Amount and location: a long-term $17 billion investment, Google's first data center in Wyoming, in Laramie County; partners are Tallgrass Energy, Black Hills Energy, AEP and Related Digital
3. Fuel cells: a contracted 702 MW commercial-scale fuel-cell development with carbon capture and storage, which Google calls the largest planned development of its kind; the fuel cells are made in America by Bloom Energy
4. Carbon capture: the technology will capture a large majority of the carbon emissions for permanent geologic storage at Tallgrass's nearby Eastern Wyoming Sequestration Hub; Google's total contracted carbon-capture capacity is nearly 1 gigawatt
5. Other power: Google will also buy power from gas generators operated by Tallgrass and Black Hills Energy, and is running a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study to evaluate fitting Tallgrass's combined cycle turbines with carbon capture
6. Power pledge: Google will pay for 100% of the power it uses and cover the infrastructure needs directly driven by its growth
7. Water: the data center will be air-cooled to minimize strain on local water resources
8. Community: Google expects hundreds of millions of dollars in local property taxes for Laramie County and School District 1; a Community Council is being set up with its partners; more than 200 Laramie County residents attended the Cheyenne community meeting
9. The AEP side: AEP disclosed on Oct 14 that it plans to invest about $4 billion in the 702 MW fuel-cell project under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Google; the fuel-cell facility is reported to begin construction in 2026 and reach full operation by the end of 2028
10. Background: the announcement came two days after the Nov 3 midterm elections, in which 40 of 41 local data-center restriction measures were reported to have passed; Google's announcement did not mention the election