Social media giant Meta has unveiled plans for a massive data center which will bring 1,000 jobs to a rural county in America’s heartland. The big tech firm, which owns Facebook and WhatsApp, intends to build the $800 million hub in Wyoming’s Cheyenne. The 715,000 square foot center is scheduled to open by 2027, Cowboy State Daily reports.
At its construction peak, the scheme, dubbed “Project Cosmo”, will generate 1,000 skilled construction jobs, organizers said. The announcement was made at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Event Center with U.S. Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, both R-Wyo., Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins, and other politicians in attendance.
Not everyone is thrilled about the prospect of more big tech in town. Several neighbors previously expressed concerns about noise and traffic resulting from the build. “Oh hell no, we don’t want it here,” local Rachel Riter said. “We bought our house 18 years ago and we could look out the back of our house into somebody else’s backyard where cattle grazed. Nobody is happy about it.”
However, Bradley Davis, Meta’s director of data centers and economic development, said the company has tried to work with the community. “In all of our data centers, we’re committed to being a good neighbor, a member of the community, and looking to make sure that whatever we’re doing in our operations is not going to be a disturbance to anybody nearby,” he said.
This facility is designed to house network computers that will store, process, and transmit data across the world. Meta will join the likes of Microsoft and others in bringing a data center to Cheyenne. It has so far refused to state how much electricity will be needed to power the facility. However, a similar-sized center in Odense, Denmark used 517,718 megawatts of energy in 2022, while Cheyenne runs on about 43,800 megawatts per year.
Part of the agreement stipulates that Meta cannot use more water than for a standard business of 100 employees. The company will also fund miles of new roads around the data center as well as water and sewer pipes. An Oregon company is constructing the facility, but locals can find employment thanks to new educational programs being offered in Wyoming, Cheyenne LEADS CEO Betsey Hale said.
The existence of the project had been kept under wraps using stringent NDAs. Davis said Cheyenne was chosen for its robust infrastructure, access to a skilled workforce, and proximity to renewable energy. “I can tell you that folks from Cheyenne check the box on all fronts,” he said.
