<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=15kwhb_1CmbPQPu00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=15kwhb_1CmbPQPu00" width="1920" height="1613" ><figcaption>Vantage Data Centers hosted a community meeting to explore concerns and questions. (Halle Sheppard, Cap City News)</figcaption></figure>CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Vantage Data Centers community meeting Friday reiterated Cheyenne residents’ deep anxieties and resistance to Cheyenne’s rapidly growing technological sector, which neighbors fear could permanently box in rural subdivisions.Held at the Red Lion Hotel and Conference Center, the meeting was led by Vantage Director of Market Development Tim Denenberg; Director of Sustainability Emily Backus; Matt Clark, senior manager of public policy, government and regulatory affairs; and Misty Allen, vice president of public policy for North America. Their goal was to share information about the company’s planned data center development in Laramie County.Data centers have become a central issue among Wyoming residents, particularly in Cheyenne, as Microsoft and Tallgrass pursue developments and a proposed moratorium on data center development failed to gain City Council support last month. A four-month delay on a Microsoft annexation request also failed during the council meeting Monday.Posters throughout the event showed details about data centers and their development in Cheyenne. Representatives were set up at stations to help answer questions.Representatives spoke about the company’s planned development, anticipated timeline and community engagement programs that are proposed alongside the data center construction. Topics included economic investment, workforce opportunities, sustainability goals and infrastructure improvements.During the event, project concerns presented by attendees included location, workforce, water usage, water contamination, noise, light and potential unknown variables.Vantage’s representatives said the company plans to minimize power needs by using air cooling and Wyoming wind, Allen said. The facility would require water to cool computer chips by routing it through piping to absorb heat, similar to a standard air conditioning system, while electricity powers the layout. A closed-loop system would treat and recycle the water.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0YObFU_1CmbPQPu00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0YObFU_1CmbPQPu00" width="1024" height="768" ><figcaption>Water usage and systems for the data centers. (Halle Sheppard, Cap City News)</figcaption></figure>“We are very mindful that Wyoming water is a precious resource and we really want to minimize use of water,” Allen said. “What I really love [about] our sustainability program when it comes to water is that we attempt to achieve water positivity, meaning we aim to return more water than we use.”Vantage officials said the company will invest in local organizations to support wetlands and develop alternative water return methods.Economically, the company will cover all project costs and create an estimated 75 jobs during the first phase, Allen said. She identified tax revenue as the largest community benefit because local entities can reinvest it into area organizations.“I don’t see it as an either/or; we’re not going to make residents pay for things that they don’t need to,” Allen said. “We’re going to take care of the environment the best that we can, and contribute economically. I don’t think it’s a choice, I think it’s an ‘and.'”Cheyenne resident Richard Lysle expressed curiosity about the amount of data that would be held in the centers, as well as privacy concerns and the impact on the local communities. Per information provided by Vantage, the centers will have a 480-megawatt IT capacity.“I’d like to see the technology grow here, basically in the United States,” Lysle said, adding that as long as the development properly handles ecological, electrical and light pollution impacts, “I am for the data centers.”Tammy Higgins, a resident of Cheyenne’s Bison Crossing neighborhood, said she fears industrial construction will leave her community feeling “boxed in” by competing tech giants. Thomas White, a resident of the nearby Hyndman subdivision, shared similar anxieties about the physical proximity and operational noise.“They’re too close to my house,” White said. “We don’t know what it’s all about.”City Councilor Lawrence Wolfe upheld neighborhood concerns, saying the sheer density of development will fundamentally alter the area’s landscape.“You’re going to have Tallgrass, Google, Microsoft, Vantage, all packed into a pretty small area,” he said. “What the map doesn’t show is that Microsoft will basically eat up all that empty space.”Wolfe added that the rapid expansion will leave the Hyndman subdivision completely surrounded by industrial infrastructure. Residents will look out their windows to see a continuous row of data centers and power facilities, he said, because Vantage is constructing its own power plant on-site.Despite the neighborhood friction, Wolfe said the projected $20 billion total investment represents an unprecedented economic shift for the community, eclipsing the historical scale of both the railroad and the local military base. However, he emphasized this industrial concentration introduces massive utility demands unlike any previous local project.“Power plants have their own water they need, and they’ll need to help us figure out what that’s going to be like,” Wolfe said. “So we’ll see how that works out.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0npmKg_1CmbPQPu00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0npmKg_1CmbPQPu00" width="768" height="1024" ><figcaption>Emily Backus, Vantage sustainability director for North America, answers questions. (Halle Sheppard, Cap City News)</figcaption></figure>Not everyone had major concerns about the project. Casey Palma, a Cheyenne-based land planner, expressed hope for the data centers. “I think generally it’s a really good thing. I think it’s a great opportunity for Wyoming if it’s done right,” he said.Backus leaned into Palma’s way of thinking, pushing back against neighborhood concerns of being boxed in by the development.“Part of the reason why we chose this site is that it is such a wide-open area that won’t be near any residents,” she said.Addressing conservation concerns, Backus said the company’s internal building designs directly mitigate heavy local environmental impacts.“The way that we design our buildings and all the systems in them is the biggest impact on how much water a data center uses because we use a closed-loop cooling system,” she said. “That means that the water that fills that system is recycled over and over and stays inside that system and we’re not evaporating water.”Backus added that the technology infrastructure will provide “really excellent jobs” while promising ongoing public transparency with Cheyenne neighborhoods.“We’re listening and so certainly as we continue to get questions from the community, we’ll determine what the best ways to reach everyone are,” Backus said. “Folks can continue to ask questions and plan for the future. We’re here and we’re listening and want to be able to answer those questions.”Vantage is encouraging anyone with questions or concerns to contact its engagement office at ProjectLatigo@vantage-dc.com or to call its project hotline at 307-555-0190 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1O4HSn_1CmbPQPu00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1O4HSn_1CmbPQPu00" width="1024" height="768" ><figcaption>Road view of Vantage’s data center site, presented during a community meeting on Friday, June 26, 2026. (Halle Sheppard, Cap City News)</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0jENz3_1CmbPQPu00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0jENz3_1CmbPQPu00" width="1024" height="768" ><figcaption>Vantage’s site overview of data centers’ buildings, investments and jobs, presented during a community meeting on Friday, June 26, 2026. (Halle Sheppard, Cap City News)</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3RXuwc_1CmbPQPu00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3RXuwc_1CmbPQPu00" width="1024" height="768" ><figcaption>Location for Vantage’s Wyoming Data Center, presented during a community meeting on Friday, June 26, 2026. (Halle Sheppard, Cap City News)</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3XLiN3_1CmbPQPu00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3XLiN3_1CmbPQPu00" width="1024" height="768" ><figcaption>Vantage’s projected timeline, presented during a community meeting on Friday, June 26, 2026. (Halle Sheppard, Cap City News)</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=27IWIC_1CmbPQPu00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=27IWIC_1CmbPQPu00" width="1024" height="768" ><figcaption>Information regarding Vantage’s proposed economic and community benefits related to its project in Cheyenne, presented during a community meeting on Friday, June 26, 2026. (Halle Sheppard, Cap City News)</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4AjB2t_1CmbPQPu00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4AjB2t_1CmbPQPu00" width="1024" height="768" ><figcaption>Vantage’s sustainability responses to light, noise and impact, presented during a community meeting on Friday, June 26, 2026. (Halle Sheppard, Cap City News)</figcaption></figure>CORRECTION, June 28, 2026: Tammy Higgins lives in the Bison Crossing neighborhood of Cheyenne. The story is corrected.</div></body>

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CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Vantage Data Centers community meeting Friday reiterated Cheyenne residents’ deep anxieties and resistance to Cheyenne’s rapidly growing technological sector, which neighbors fear could permanently box in rural subdivisions. Held at the Red Lion Hotel and Conference Center, the meeting was led by Vantage...

Vantage Data Centers meets Cheyenne residents’ concerns about incoming project

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CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Vantage Data Centers community meeting Friday reiterated Cheyenne residents’ deep anxieties and resistance to Cheyenne’s rapidly growing

Vantage Data Centers meets Cheyenne residents’ concerns about incoming project

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