Google's $17 Billion Cheyenne Data Center Project Moves Forward

Google is moving forward with its $17 billion data center project in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The project, called Project Tembo, would be built eight miles south of the city in the Switchgrass Industrial Park. This location is surrounded by rural and agricultural land, as well as a solar field.

The project was formerly known as Project Jade and was spearheaded by Crusoe before it backed out this spring. Google has scaled back the project slightly, removing one proposed warehouse and reducing the number of peak construction workers.

Google claims that its closed-loop system will use minimal water, which would be pulled from deep wells beneath the local watershed to avoid interfering with community resources. The company has pledged to replenish 120% of the freshwater it consumes across its operations by 2030.

Joey Terrano, Google's Water Supply and Infrastructure Lead, said that the goal is not just to conserve water on-site but also to leave the local ecosystem stronger than they found it. Google currently has 165 active watershed projects in 97 watersheds, replenishing billions of gallons of water each year.

The project will bring about 2,500 construction roles at its peak and approximately 250 long-term operational jobs. Data Center Operations Leader Joe Sprowls mentioned that Google hires a wide variety of individuals for its data centers, which can come from various backgrounds.