Prometheus Hyperscale wants to build a $500 million, 1.5-gigawatt data center on 940 acres near Casper, Wyoming. To speed things up, the company is asking Natrona County commissioners to grant an industrial park zoning designation — a status that would let the project skip Wyoming's state industrial siting review entirely.

That review exists for a reason. It is the state's check on massive industrial projects like this one, covering impacts a county government is not set up to evaluate alone. Prometheus founder Trenton Thornock told commissioners the state process is "cumbersome and time-consuming," and said, "Local control in my opinion is much better than state siting oversight," according to Oil City News.

But local control should not mean no independent oversight at all. This campus is large enough to include on-site natural gas power generation, not just server halls. Neighbors near the proposed site have already raised concerns about noise, heat, water use, and permanent changes to the rural landscape. A state-level review adds a second set of eyes to a project this size, one that county commissioners alone may not have the staff to fully assess.

Natrona County commissioners have not voted on this request yet, and any zoning change still has to clear the county planning board and a public hearing. Before that happens, tell the commissioners: do not let a $500 million industrial project skip the review process built to catch problems a county alone might miss.

Sign the petition to require full state review of the Prometheus Hyperscale data center, before a zoning vote locks in an exemption Natrona County may not be equipped to police alone.