Google has acquired Crusoe’s large-scale AI data center development in southeast Wyoming, taking control of a project originally announced in July 2025 with a planned 1.8 GW capacity and a potential expansion path to 10 GW. Google separately confirmed a $17 billion long-term investment in its first Wyoming data center near Cheyenne in Laramie County. Crusoe disclosed the acquisition on November 6, following Google’s announcement a day earlier. The transaction price was not disclosed, and Crusoe characterized the transfer as completion of its pre-development work, including site selection, governmental approvals, engineering coordination, and power strategy.

The development, originally known as Project Jade, was initiated by Crusoe and Tallgrass Energy in July 2025. Local planning records identify approximately 600 acres for five data center buildings and two support structures, alongside a separate 659-acre parcel for energy infrastructure within approximately 1,375-acre Switchgrass Industrial Park. The power strategy incorporates fuel cells, utility grid connections, natural gas generation, and a privately managed microgrid. Google confirmed plans for a contracted 702 MW fuel-cell development with carbon capture and storage, alongside agreements involving Tallgrass Energy, Black Hills Energy, American Electric Power, and Related Digital. The project will use air cooling to limit local water demand.

The power infrastructure is backed by definitive agreements signed by Black Hills in September 2026, covering a 2.7 GW resource portfolio that includes reserve margins. Black Hills plans to provide up to 590 MW of grid-connected service and manage approximately 2.1 GW of third-party resources through a private microgrid. The company expects to invest $1.8 billion in 564 MW of new natural gas generation at its existing Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station. Initial electricity service is targeted for late 2027, with the data center expected to ramp toward peak load in 2030. These schedules remain forward-looking, and neither Google nor Crusoe has disclosed completed operational data center capacity at the Wyoming site.

“Crusoe’s pre-construction efforts – origination, entitlement, and de-risking – have set up the Wyoming project for construction and eventual operation,” said Chase Lochmiller, co-founder and CEO of Crusoe.

Analysis

The acquisition illustrates how hyperscale AI infrastructure procurement extends beyond the data center buildings to control of land, permits, electrical capacity, fuel supply, generation equipment, and delivery schedules. Crusoe originated and advanced the Wyoming project through pre-construction activities. Google is now taking ownership of the site, with identified energy and infrastructure partners supporting development. Black Hills had already disclosed in June 2026 that Crusoe was no longer the project’s development partner and that it was working directly with the potential hyperscale customer.

The electrical architecture is particularly significant. The original 1.8 GW campus announcement and its potential 10 GW expansion were planning objectives, while the newer 2.7 GW figure represents contracted generation and power resources, including reserves, needed to serve development. Black Hills will provide up to 590 MW of grid-connected service and coordinate approximately 2.1 GW of third-party resources. The 702 MW fuel-cell project and planned gas generation are components of the power strategy, not additional capacities that should be added to 2.7 GW.

The power strategy introduces construction and operating dependencies. The 702 MW fuel-cell development is planned with carbon capture and storage, but the announcements do not establish that capture or sequestration infrastructure is operating. Tallgrass’s regional CO2 sequestration capabilities are part of the longer-term strategy. Google has committed to air-cooled facilities to reduce direct local water demands relative to water-intensive evaporative cooling approaches.

Financially, Google’s $17 billion long-term investment is distinct from the undisclosed price it paid Crusoe and from Black Hills’ separately identified $1.8 billion generation investment. Black Hills has disclosed approximately $686 million of proposed transmission expansion investments supporting broader Wyoming large-load opportunities; that total should not be attributed entirely to Google. The utility expects its generation investments and microgrid management arrangements to contribute approximately $150 million of annual net income by 2030, subject to execution and the load ramp.

The remaining milestones are physical construction, installation of long-lead electrical equipment, commissioning of initial power resources, regulatory progress on carbon capture, and the start of data center service. The acquisition transfers an advanced development project to Google, not an already energized gigawatt-scale computing campus.