Platte County, Wyo., Rezones 5,344 Acres for a Self-Powered Data Center Campus; the Megawatts Wait for a Special-Use Permit

Platte County, Wyoming, had 158 acres of industrially zoned land, by the county GIS figures in the developer’s own application ^[2]. On Wednesday, September 2, its Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to add 5,344 more, rezoning ranchland in Goshen Hole for a data center campus that says it will make its own electricity ^[1,2].

The vote is a county land-use decision. It does not approve a data center, a power plant or a megawatt figure. It changes what the land may be used for and leaves the rest to a special-use permit that has not been filed.

What the commissioners approved

The applicant is Site Layer 4, LLC, a Delaware company with a New York address, represented by Ian Marcus ^[2]. Its application, dated June 26 and prepared by SWCA Environmental Consultants, asks to move the parcel from Ranch, Agricultural and Mining (RAM) zoning to the county’s industrial district ^[2]. The land sits about 13 miles east of Interstate 25, northeast of Wheatland near the Goshen County line, and is owned by Gregor and Cindy Goertz ^[1,2]. A recorded memorandum attached to the application shows Lazy V Six, Inc. granted Site Layer 4 an option on December 15, 2025, running up to five years, to lease the land for up to 25 years with three five-year extensions, plus an option to buy up to 500 contiguous acres ^[2].

The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval unanimously on August 26, with three conditions ^[3]. After nearly four hours of debate, the commissioners adopted a version with four ^[1]:

• The land reverts to its previous zoning if construction does not begin within five years of approval.
• Any industrial park subdivision plan comes before the commissioners before review and recording.
• Any use of the property requires a special-use permit.
• The property owner signs an acceptance of the conditions.

The first condition was the developer’s idea. Its purpose letter asks that any approval include a sunset provision returning the land to RAM zoning if construction has not started within five years “or upon permanent decommissioning” ^[2]. The planning commission kept the decommissioning trigger ^[3]. The commissioners’ version, as reported, speaks only of construction starting ^[1].

What the application says about power

Here is the power plan, in the application’s words. Site Layer 4 is “a proposed utility-scale co-located energy generation, storage, and data center campus,” worth about $26 billion, and it “would include multiple hundreds of megawatts of energy generation and storage” ^[2]. The site “has access to existing commercial electrical transmission and natural gas utilities,” and “Site Layer 4 would generate the necessary power for the data center on-site,” using existing utilities only for ancillary facilities such as on-site substations and maintenance buildings ^[2]. The site characterization lists two pipeline corridors and two electrical transmission lines already crossing the parcel ^[2].

That is the full extent of it. The application names no fuel, no generator type, no data center load and no tenant ^[2]. It also says the parcel has access to “critical grid interconnection,” without saying whether the campus would export power, import it as backup, or stay islanded ^[2]. The developer told the planning commission that the eventual size of the project depends partly on how much generation can be built at the site and on future commercial negotiations ^[3]. Multiple hundreds of megawatts of generation is a range, not a figure.

Water is sized more precisely. The application says the data center would use a closed-loop cooling system and less than 15 acre-feet a year, which it compares to 25 to 30 households, and would not draw from the Wheatland Irrigation District ^[2].

Who carries the risk if it stalls?

This is where the commissioners spent their time. Commissioner Ian Jolovich said he still did not understand significant parts of the proposal. “It looks like a huge rezone that nobody knows anything about,” he said, according to Cowboy State Daily ^[1]. His concern was cost shifting: “So my big concern is, when you guys say we need to de-risk this on our books, you’re de-risking it and asking us to pick up the risk” ^[1]. He questioned how much public money an industrial site might require for roads, law enforcement and other county services ^[1].

He also raised Wyoming’s state industrial siting process, warning that if a project did not go through it, the county could absorb some of the impact costs ^[1]. Jeff Pope, the developer’s attorney, said the process contains exemptions but that exempt projects still report to the Department of Environmental Quality’s Industrial Siting Division: “To be sure, the amount of information under the exemption is different, but reporting is still required” ^[1]. The application says the project would be developed under county code and Industrial Siting Division requirements, and in compliance with the governor’s Executive Order 2026-03 ^[2].

That order, signed June 3, sets a “Grid Stewardship” principle that residential and small-business customers should not bear incremental costs “exclusively associated with data center development” ^[6]. The governor’s office described it as ensuring new data centers bear the costs of their power demands ^[7]. The order also says nothing in it alters “local land-use authority” ^[6]. The order’s cost principle is written for utility customers. Jolovich’s worry was the county’s own budget for roads and services.

On the revenue side, the application says the project would require no county subsidies and would create an estimated 250 to 300 permanent full-time jobs ^[2]. Platte County Economic Development’s Josephine Young told Cowboy State Daily in July that sales tax revenue could “triple our county budget” ^[4]. Planning commission chairman Marty Shepard said in August that a data center could generate as much as $20 million in property tax for the county ^[5].

Where residents stand

At the planning commission, speakers offered a relatively even mix of support and opposition ^[3]. Supporters including retired attorney Steve Sherard and rancher Juan Reyes recalled the divisions over the Laramie River Station power plant and argued the county needs new industry ^[3]. Reyes told the commissioners on Wednesday that “Projects like data centers can keep families ranching” ^[1].

Opponents asked the county to slow down. Several speakers on Wednesday requested a moratorium, citing the Ogallala Aquifer, wildlife and noise ^[1]. Neighbors on the Goshen Hole Rim have described springs, mule deer habitat and domestic wells that depend on groundwater ^[4]. Adjacent landowner Amy Miller told the planning commission the developer had returned her certified letter unopened ^[3].

The county is also writing its own data center rules. On August 11 the planning commission voted to move forward with land-use changes that would require a special-use permit for data centers, with Shepard saying, “We’re looking at special-use permit instead of giving them carte blanche” ^[5]. The rezoning conditions already impose that requirement on this parcel ^[1].

What I’m watching

The special-use permit application. The application says a detailed site plan, traffic study and parking plan would come with a future special-use permit filing ^[2]. That filing is the first place a megawatt figure, a fuel and a generator count could appear in a county record.

Five years from September 2, 2026. That is the reversion deadline under the first condition, if construction has not begun ^[1]. The developer describes itself as still in Phase 1, site evaluation, with utility contracts and permits in Phase 2 ^[1].