Overview
- Governor Mark Gordon signed Executive Order 2026-03 on Wednesday, giving state agencies 60 days to recommend policy and legislative changes for large-load data centers and advanced computing projects.
- The order tells agencies that permit, review or support data centers to balance attracting investment with checks on water use, environmental review, workforce planning and the risk of higher residential power costs.
- Wyoming’s existing energy rules and tariffs have created dual-use assets that Bitcoin miners can now market for AI and high-performance computing hosting, letting operators switch between mining and AI workloads depending on which pays more.
- Reporting highlights rising competition for sites and power contracts from cloud and AI spending and from crypto firms repurposing mines, with CleanSpark and Laramie County’s approved Project Jade cited as reported examples of early deals.
- The move builds on Wyoming’s late-2010s crypto-friendly laws and interruptible energy tariffs, a regulatory history that gives the state an early advantage but raises new questions about grid strain and local impacts as AI demand grows.