Industrial Signals Brief
ISSUE 002 · NOVEMBER 5, 2026
Black Hills plans to spend $1.8 billion on 564 MW of new gas generation at Cheyenne Prairie to help serve Google’s planned data center, and the state siting hearing for the plant’s expansion opens November 9. For contractors, the applicant’s July estimate, published by the state, holds the most concrete number so far: a peak of 250 workers, projected for July to November 2028 under a Q4 2026 construction start. Also in this issue: a Natrona County data center project changing hands, and a 95 MW resource gap Black Hills projects for Cheyenne’s regular customers starting in 2027.
THE LEAD · CHEYENNE
The plant behind Google’s data center faces its state hearing
Black Hills’ agreements, effective September 30 and running through 2048, cover up to 590 MW of grid-connected service for the planned data center. Black Hills would also manage about 2.1 GW of third-party resources through a private microgrid, for a 2.7 GW resource mix including reserves. Service is planned to start in late 2027 and reach peak load in 2030. Google has provided $399 million in refundable advances for long lead-time equipment. [1]
The plant has two published sizes. The July state notice lists 552 MW added, taking Cheyenne Prairie from 140 MW to 692 MW through three simple-cycle turbines and 24 reciprocating engines, with construction starting in Q4 2026 and operation in Q4 2029. [2] Black Hills’ October announcement says 564 MW of nameplate capacity at the same site, with construction beginning in 2027. [1] Neither source explains the 12 MW difference, and the company’s November 4 results repeat 564 MW and $1.8 billion without addressing it. [8] The hearing is the next chance to clear it up.
What it means: The applicant’s July estimate, published by the state, also averages 185 workers on site over a 37-month construction period. [2] It assumes an earlier start than Black Hills described in October, so use it to size the job, not to set a calendar. Neither document names a construction contractor. Equipment money is already moving. On November 2, Black Hills filed for the $606 million Aeolus Transmission Project: two parallel 230 kV lines running about 122 miles from PacifiCorp’s Aeolus Substation to the Robinson Substation, through Albany, Carbon and Laramie counties. The application targets easements by Q3 2027, environmental permits by Q1 2028, construction starting in Q2 2028 and service in Q2 2029, and asks for approval by July 1, 2027. [10] Its earnings release says about 125 miles and completion by mid-2029. It expects state utility regulators to decide on Aeolus and the $80 million South Cheyenne project by mid-2027, so timing for substation and line work depends on them. Black Hills also says these projects serve its large-load customers generally. [8]
Next step: investigate. Electrical, civil, crane and gas firms should start finding out who will hold the construction work. An amended application, a siting decision or a named contractor would change the timing.
If you want to follow or weigh in: The hearing starts at 9 AM on November 9 at the Red Lion Hotel, 204 W Fox Farm Road, Cheyenne, with a possible continuation November 10. It will also stream on YouTube. Advance written statements are due by 5 PM on November 6; after that, a statement can be handed to the presiding officer at the hearing. A hearing isn’t an approval. [3]
Across the region
Natrona County: Prometheus is out, and a landowner says the project continues
WyoFile reported on October 28 that Prometheus Hyperscale has dropped its proposed 1,250 MW computing complex east of Casper, and is still pursuing a project in Uinta County, near Evanston. [4] Days later, WyoFile reported that Falls Ranch, owned by Russell Gordy, says it will take over the project and that work will continue without delay. The 1,250 MW belongs to the former proposal; the new plan’s size, financing and power supply haven’t been established. The report says developers may seek to have county commissioners vet the project instead of the state siting council. [5]
Next step: monitor. Watch Falls Ranch for a permit filing or a named contractor, including at the county level. In Uinta County, look for the same things.
Cheyenne: Black Hills projects a 95 MW resource gap for regular customers starting in 2027
Separately from Google, Black Hills’ 2026 Wyoming resource plan identifies a 95 MW capacity shortfall beginning in 2027. It recommends 36 MW of new gas engines, 50 MW of battery storage and market purchases, with the new units estimated to enter service in 2029, pending approvals. Large-load customers are handled through their own contracts and must pay for the new infrastructure needed to serve them. [6]
Next step: monitor. It’s a smaller job than the Google plant, and a separate one. Watch for approvals and for the 2029 target to hold.
Cheyenne: the first real check on data center timing is due
Related Digital said in October 2025 that the first building at its Cheyenne campus, 88 MW of critical IT capacity leased to CoreWeave, was expected to finish in late 2026. The campus could reach up to 302 MW. [7]
Next step: monitor. Cowboy State Daily reported in June that work was nearing completion on that first phase, and put the full campus at up to 420 MW. [9] We have not reconciled the scope or measurement basis of the 302 MW and 420 MW figures, and we haven’t confirmed completion. Whether it finishes on time will be an early test of how Cheyenne’s announced schedules hold up.
The connection: count approvals, not megawatts
These figures can’t be added together. Generation capacity, IT capacity and shortfalls measure different things. Natrona County shows a project’s developer can change within days, leaving its size unsettled, and Black Hills’ own list shows that a signed deal can still have approvals ahead of it. For a contractor, the useful question is which approval or named contractor comes next.
What we’re watching
- November 6, 5 PM: Deadline for advance written statements.
- November 9, and November 10 only if continued: Cheyenne Prairie siting hearing, and whether the 552 MW and 564 MW figures are reconciled.
- By year-end: Related Digital’s first-building target.
- January 28, 2027: Public hearing on the proposed large-customer transmission cost mechanism. Google and Microsoft are both parties. [10]
- By July 1, 2027: The approval date Black Hills requested for Aeolus. Construction and completion remain conditional.
Help shape the next brief
Which project affects your planning, and what missing fact would make your next decision clearer? Reply with the project, your firm’s specialty and one question for us to investigate.
Sources & corrections
Reviewed November 5, 2026. Company targets and forecasts are as of the dates below. We checked Black Hills’ November 4 release. We read an automated transcript of its November 5 call but didn’t verify it against the recording, so nothing here relies on the call. On November 5 we read the Wyoming Public Service Commission’s docket listings for records 18275, 18235, 18157 and 18057, and the filed documents cited here. The order lists show no final disposition for the three pending transmission items. The cost-mechanism docket also has a partial-approval motion and October tariff documents. The motion covers blockchain-customer and related tariff sheets and leaves the proposed mechanism for hearing; we didn’t verify the resulting tariff action. The May 19 meeting minutes show the Robinson vote; we found no separate written order posted. An independent reviewer checked the live listings and our copies of the filings but couldn’t retrieve the portal’s attachment files.
- Black Hills Corp., October 6, 2026: definitive agreements for Google’s planned data center, and regulatory filings.
- Wyoming DEQ, July 14, 2026: Cheyenne Prairie expansion notice, DEQ/ISC 25-05.
- Wyoming DEQ, October 13, 2026: hearing errata and venue change.
- WyoFile, October 28, 2026: Prometheus cancels data center proposal near Casper.
- WyoFile, October 30, 2026: Falls Ranch to take over the Natrona County project.
- Black Hills Energy: 2026 Wyoming Integrated Resource Plan.
- Related Digital, October 7, 2025: groundbreaking on the Cheyenne campus.
- Black Hills Corp., November 4, 2026: third-quarter results and transmission filings.
- Cowboy State Daily, June 14, 2026: first-phase status at the Cheyenne campus.
- Wyoming Public Service Commission docket portal, read November 5, 2026; search by record number. Record 18275 (20003-280-EN-26, Aeolus): Application, Nov. 2, pp. 4–8. Record 18157 (20003-273-EM-26, cost mechanism): Scheduling Order, Aug. 27, pp. 1–2; Motion for Partial Approval, Sept. 24, pp. 1–2. Record 18235 (20003-278-EN-26, South Cheyenne): Orders tab. Record 18057 (20003-263-EN-26, Robinson): May 19 minutes, item 2, p. 3.
Corrections or source additions: cameron@laramiebasin.com.
Cam Schaefer founded Laramie Basin Intelligence and Laramie Basin Holdings, an investment and acquisition business.