Horse Creek Project Intelligence Briefing — Friday, October 9, 2026
Friday, October 9, 2026 | Revised public edition
Geographic key: H HORSE CREEK SITE - 1720 Horse Creek Road; R OTHER CHEYENNE-AREA PROJECT; W OTHER WYOMING PROJECT; U LOCATION OR CONNECTION UNVERIFIED. Colors describe geography or unresolved connections, not confidence or approval.
Summary
H | HORSE CREEK SITE - 1720 Horse Creek Road
No new approval or public-comment deadline for the 1720 Horse Creek Road proposal was independently verified. Its public air-record tabs remain empty; missing public documents do not establish that no filing exists. [S01]
U | LOCATION OR CONNECTION UNVERIFIED
Correction: the earlier edition omitted Black Hills Corporation’s announced merger with NorthWestern Energy Group. This older transaction now joins continuing coverage; local staffing effects remain unverified. [S35–S37]
R | OTHER CHEYENNE-AREA PROJECT
Neighborhood well records provide context. Regional job and tax promises need comparison with actual employment, incentive terms and public costs. [S26–S27, S30, S33, S38–S39]
Key Developments
H | HORSE CREEK SITE - 1720 Horse Creek Road
Confirmed, unchanged: DEQ OpenAir lists Prairie West Energy Center, F032681, under Cheyenne Light Fuel and Power Company (CLFP), as Not Yet Installed, class Minor. Applications and Permits tabs showed none available October 9. The May 1 record-version date is not a filing date; inventory is not approval or a final emissions determination. [S01]
U | LOCATION OR CONNECTION UNVERIFIED
Confirmed corporate background: Black Hills and NorthWestern announced their merger August 19, 2025; shareholders approved it April 2, 2026. The planned combined name is Bright Horizon Energy Corporation. Black Hills’ August 5 update expected closing by year-end, subject to Montana approval and closing conditions. No closing was independently verified for this edition. Shared systems and cost efficiencies are described; Cheyenne job losses are not established. [S35–S37]
R | OTHER CHEYENNE-AREA PROJECT
Separate project deadlines: DEQ/ISC 25-05, Cheyenne Prairie expansion, advertised an October 30 prehearing and November 9 hearing at 9 a.m. Advance written limited appearances must arrive before November 6 at 5 p.m.; hearing-day in-person statements are also permitted. These are Cheyenne venue times. Later orders remain unchecked. [S07]
R | OTHER CHEYENNE-AREA PROJECT
Background: Black Hills’ October 6 Google release places its company-owned new generation at existing Cheyenne Prairie. Meta and Microsoft have announced Cheyenne developments; Related Digital names CoreWeave as first-phase tenant. These records do not establish Horse Creek’s customer allocation. [S05, S30–S34]
Geographic Relevance
H | HORSE CREEK SITE - 1720 Horse Creek Road
Horse Creek: air-record point 41.24067, -105.06811, Sec 25 T15N R69W, is not a boundary. Four CLFP assessor parcels total 948.06 assessed acres across Sec 30 T15N R68W and eastern Sec 25 T15N R69W. Reconcile gross acreage with the reported approximately 935-acre development area. [S01–S02]
R | OTHER CHEYENNE-AREA PROJECT
Cheyenne Prairie, Tembo/Jade, Meta, Microsoft and Related/CoreWeave retain separate identities. Tembo’s August 13 “Passed” action was postponement, not final use approval. [S16, S30–S34]
W | OTHER WYOMING PROJECT
Site Layer 4 in Platte County remains a separate Wyoming lead; no Horse Creek relationship is established.
Community Impacts
R | OTHER CHEYENNE-AREA PROJECT
Confirmed within a community-supplied CSV; agency verification outstanding: 197 records include 164 marked Complete, with median depth 650 ft and median static-water-level value 224 ft. Among 163 completed domestic/stock records, 48 have positive permitted rates at or below 5 gpm (29.4%). Permitted flow is not tested yield. Missing measurement dates prevent conclusions about current conditions, groundwater decline or plant-induced drawdown. [S26–S27; methods appendix]
H | HORSE CREEK SITE - 1720 Horse Creek Road
Plant water source, cooling, gas route, equipment, battery MW/MWh, operating hours, noise, lighting, haul routes and emergency plans remain unresolved. Designs are needed to assess neighborhood effects and local public-service costs.
R | OTHER CHEYENNE-AREA PROJECT
Benefits need verification: Related’s first-phase forecasts include 700-plus construction jobs, 40 permanent jobs and over $250 million in taxes over 15 years. Meta anticipates over 1,000 construction workers at peak and approximately 100 operational jobs. Company projections do not establish measured net local employment. [S30, S33]
W | OTHER WYOMING PROJECT
Confirmed policy: Wyoming exempts qualifying data-center equipment purchases from sales tax, with job certification and compliance requirements. Noncompliance can require tax payment. Compare forecasts with exemptions, actual receipts, local hiring and infrastructure costs; no project-specific noncompliance was established. [S38–S39]
Strategy
H | HORSE CREEK SITE - 1720 Horse Creek Road
Now: seek the county site-plan file and original deed/easements, plus water, noise and traffic studies. When a permit appears, identify its agency, record number and participation deadline; obtain the complete application and submit evidence tied to review criteria. Each approval has its own process.
U | LOCATION OR CONNECTION UNVERIFIED
Corporate accountability: prepare factual questions for Black Hills’ published Board channel on staffing, contractor changes, hiring, taxes and ratepayer protections. Its 2026 proxy lists November 18, 2026 for receipt of eligible proposals seeking inclusion in 2027 proxy materials. Check eligibility and merger-related changes; meeting access, questions and proposals follow different rules. [S40]
W | OTHER WYOMING PROJECT
Economic accountability: seek public exemption certifications, compliance reports, incentive agreements and aggregate employment/tax results. Compare disclosed lobbying and campaign activity with actual decisions; a donation or meeting alone establishes no improper influence.
Research Transparency
U | LOCATION OR CONNECTION UNVERIFIED
October 9 checks covered OpenAir’s Not Yet Installed filter, DEQ/PSC notices, the Cheyenne Prairie notice, county calendar/Tembo entry, company records, WSGS/WRI resources and well-file calculations. This revision adds original merger releases, tax provisions and the 2026 proxy. Authenticated SEO searches, the deed, full docket histories, local staffing effects and project-specific exemption results remain unverified. WRI’s Horse Creek sub-basin score was not resolved.
Evidence key: Confirmed: observed in the stated record or file. Strongly Supported: credible support with an original record missing. Preliminary Lead: testable proposition. Unverified: evidence insufficient. A confirmed company statement can still be a forecast; colors describe geography/links, not confidence or approval.
Well-record Methods
Analysis of a community-supplied well-record CSV. Calculations checked October 8 and rechecked October 9, 2026. Confirmed means confirmed within the supplied file; original current State Engineer records are not independently verified.
| Population / field | Result within supplied file |
|---|---|
| All supplied records | 197 rows; 197 unique permit IDs; no duplicate complete rows |
| Status counts | 164 Complete; 16 Cancelled; 15 Incomplete; 2 Expired |
| 164 Complete: total depth | Median 650 ft; range 290-900 ft; arithmetic mean 614.8 ft |
| 164 Complete: static-water-level value | Median 224 ft; range 80-660 ft; arithmetic mean 228.9 ft |
| 164 Complete: permitted rate | Median 10 gpm |
| 163 completed domestic/stock records | 48 positive permitted rates at or below 5 gpm (29.4%); medians: depth 650 ft, water-level value 225 ft, permitted rate 10 gpm |
Population and calculation
Select status exactly Complete. All 164 Complete records have depth and water-level values. Of 173 populated pairs overall, nine non-Complete records are excluded. Domestic/stock means uses containing DOM_GW or STK. Count rates greater than zero and at or below 5 gpm. The all-Complete count at or below 5 is 49/164 (29.9%), including one zero-rate monitoring record; that is not evidence of a dry household well. Permitted rate is not a tested or sustainable yield.
Geography and dates
The supplied selection lists T15N: R68W sections 19, 20, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33; R69W sections 24 and 25. It is not a verified complete census. Priority dates span September 21, 1910-December 12, 2024. Measurement/completion dates, agency retrieval dates, source/version links and accuracy fields are absent. The filename date is not a measurement date. WSGS lists its separate permit download as September 1, 2023; that vintage cannot be assigned to this CSV. [S26-S27]
Unresolved site matches
Five compiler flags mark records as on the plant tract: four Complete and one Cancelled. These are unverified parcel matches, not five active completed wells. Confirm original permits, legal descriptions and positional metadata before assigning proximity or ownership. No recharge estimate, current well condition, aquifer connection or plant-induced drawdown is established.
Regional water-risk screening
WRI Aqueduct 4.0 is a regional prioritization tool. The correct Horse Creek sub-basin, spatial extent and score were not verified. The supplied saved-map selection must not be substituted for the plant-area basin. A basin screening category cannot establish household-well failure or plant-specific effects. [S28-S29]
Public Sources
Source identifiers refer to original public agency or company records. Forecasts and access limits are identified.
- S01 | H DEQ OpenAir: Prairie West Energy Center, F032681
Facility search and inventory plus Applications/Permits tabs checked October 9. Filter: F032681, Not Yet Installed, default Minor/Synthetic Minor/Title V classes. No other applicant/location-wide database census completed. - S07 | R DEQ/ISC 25-05: Cheyenne Prairie Expansion participation notice
Published July 14, 2026; paragraphs on hearing and limited appearances reread October 9. Dates above come from this notice; full later orders remain unchecked. Notice does not explicitly name a timezone; November MST follows the Cheyenne venue. - S05 | R Black Hills: definitive Google agreements
October 6, 2026 release reread October 9. Generation location, financing and customer protections are company statements; contracts not independently audited. - S30 | R Meta: Hello, Cheyenne!
July 2, 2024; paragraphs on campus, infrastructure and Black Hills partnership checked October 9. Announcement is not current construction-status verification. - S31 | R Microsoft: intent to expand Cheyenne operations
April 14, 2026; updated June 8. Southeast Cheyenne/Wapiti Trail parcels, multiyear planning and LPCS statements checked October 9. Deeds, permits and tariff terms remain to be verified. - S32 | R Microsoft Local: Cheyenne datacenter expansion update
May 2026 update and May 28 information-session account checked October 9. Company reports 385- and 35-acre expansion applications; City case IDs and decisions not retrieved. - S33 | R Related Digital: 302 MW Cheyenne campus groundbreaking
October 7, 2025; capacity, roles, projected benefits and cooling statements checked October 9. Expected late-2026 completion is a forecast, not verified operation. - S34 | R Clayco: Related Digital Cheyenne campus
Undated contractor page checked October 9; corroborates location, first-phase scope, CoreWeave tenant and air-cooled design. - S02 | H Laramie County assessor/GIS
Four parcel records independently inspected October 8; entry point revisited October 9, parcel values not independently refreshed today. PIDNs: 15683030000100, 15683010000100, 15692510000200, 15692510000300. Assessed acreage is not a surveyed development boundary. - S19 | U County Clerk: real-estate recordings access
Retrieval failed October 9. Book 2941/Page 3488 is an unverified retrieval lead, not a deed independently read. Seek instrument, execution/recording dates, legal descriptions, exclusions and later easements. - S26 | R WSGS Groundwater Atlas
App entry revisited October 9; individual original well rows and layer/version metadata were not retrieved. Atlas catalog retrieval was inaccessible. - S27 | R WSGS GIS groundwater downloads
Checked October 9. Well and Spring Permits description explicitly dates that download to September 1, 2023. This date cannot be assigned to the supplied CSV containing December 2024 priority dates. - S28 | U WRI Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas
Description and map entry revisited October 9; Horse Creek sub-basin, score and spatial extent not resolved. The saved regional selection is not verified as Horse Creek. - S29 | U Aqueduct 4.0 technical note
August 16, 2023; DOI 10.46830/writn.23.00061. Summary/methodology page checked October 9; full 52-page PDF not read. Regional screening requires local investigation. - S11 | R Wyoming PSC public notices
Index revisited October 9: 20003-278-EN-26/18235, 275-EA-26/18175 and 273-EM-26/18157. Linked 278 notice returned a Drive shell; map/application and comment deadline not verified. - S12 | R Wyoming PSC Docket Management System
Entry page revisited October 9; complete histories, orders, maps and cost-allocation exhibits not retrieved. - S16 | R County File 26-422: Tembo HUB-1 postponement
PZ-26-00057, August 13, 2026 action; reread October 9. Passed applies to postponement. Later outcome not verified. - S14 | U State Engineer e-Permit instructions
Guidance entry revisited October 9; authenticated current geographic/applicant search was not completed. Community-reported absence of new filings remains unverified. - S35 | U Black Hills / NorthWestern: all-stock merger announcement
August 19, 2025. Transaction terms; operating efficiencies and workforce statements; planned leadership and Rapid City headquarters. Read October 9. Statements of expected benefits are projections; no local layoff schedule established. - S36 | U Black Hills / NorthWestern: shareholder merger approval
April 2, 2026. Shareholder vote and proposed Bright Horizon Energy Corporation name; shareholder approval is distinct from regulatory approval and closing. Read October 9. - S37 | U Black Hills: second-quarter 2026 results and merger status
August 5, 2026; Merger with NorthWestern Energy section. Remaining Montana approval and expected year-end closing are stated as of that release. Checked October 9; Montana docket 2025.10.078 and subsequent orders not fully retrieved. - S38 | W Wyoming Statutes: data-center sales-tax exemption
W.S. 39-15-105(a)(viii)(S)(I)-(IV), PDF pages 329-331 (1-based). Qualifying equipment, investment thresholds, Business Council job certification, documentation and tax payment if requirements are not met. Current posted compilation checked October 9; no individual project certification examined. - S39 | W Wyoming Business Council: exemption and job certification process
One-page committee resource, November 2025 file context; no separate publication date printed. Explains capital/equipment tiers, planned Wyoming jobs and wages, and certification roles. Read October 9; process document is not proof of project compliance or tax receipts. - S40 | U Black Hills: 2026 proxy in the 2025 Annual Report
Proxy pp. 3, 15 and 53 (PDF pp. 17, 29 and 67, 1-based). Virtual meeting/control-number requirements; Board mailing channel; November 18, 2026 proxy-inclusion proposal deadline. Read October 9. Review later notices after merger; no universal one-share proposal or speaking entitlement.
Full Report
Read or download the dated PDF, including its methods and source appendix, using the full-report link below.