Wyoming may become the first state to supply more electricity to AI than to residents

Wow: Wyoming could soon host one of the largest AI data centers ever built – one consuming more electricity than every home in the state combined. The scale is staggering and raises urgent questions about how the AI boom will reshape America's energy future.

On Monday, Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins announced a joint venture between energy infrastructure company Tallgrass and Crusoe, an AI data center developer. The Associated Press notes the facility's first phase would draw 1.8 gigawatts, consuming 15.8 terawatt-hours annually – five times what Wyoming households currently use and 90 percent of the state's entire annual consumption. At full scale, the data center would hit 10 gigawatts and 87.6 TWh a year, outstripping the state's total power output.

Pulling that load from the public grid would cripple Wyoming's energy system, even with the mix of dedicated natural gas generation and renewables that ...