Horse Creek Project Intelligence Briefing — Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Open the PDF briefing archive

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Status update since the completed Friday, October 9 briefing. Research checked October 13, 2026; older discoveries are identified as background or corrections.

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 links, not confidence or approval.

Summary

H | HORSE CREEK SITE — 1720 Horse Creek Road
Confirmed, unchanged: today’s live OpenAir check found Prairie West Energy Center, F032681, still Not Yet Installed. Its Applications and Permits tabs explicitly show no records available. This is a public-database result, not proof that no submission exists elsewhere. [S01]

U | LOCATION OR CONNECTION UNVERIFIED
New national context: an October 9 Senate report questions data-center cost allocation, tax incentives and permanent-job evidence. It supplies questions to test locally, not a finding against Horse Creek. [S41]

U | LOCATION OR CONNECTION UNVERIFIED
No new merger completion or Cheyenne layoff announcement was verified in the reviewed company sources and bounded news searches. Complete SEC histories and Montana orders remain unchecked; no workforce outcome is inferred. [S44–S45]

Key Developments

H | HORSE CREEK SITE — 1720 Horse Creek Road
Horse Creek status: the live facility profile, address and May 1 inventory-version date remain unchanged from Friday. No Horse Creek-specific participation deadline was verified in the reviewed DEQ notice pages. The inventory date is not an application date, and its Minor classification is not final emissions approval. [S01, S23]

R | OTHER CHEYENNE-AREA PROJECT
Transmission/substations: the PSC index still lists 20003-278-EN-26, Record 18235, for a new 230 kV substation, 115 kV line and 230 kV lines. No later notice for that docket was found on this index. The linked notice returned a Drive shell; full applications, maps and orders were not obtained. Approval status remains unverified. [S11]

R | OTHER CHEYENNE-AREA PROJECT
Upcoming separate-project dates: Cheyenne Prairie’s July 14 notice, reread today, lists an October 30 prehearing, November 9 hearing at 9 a.m., and advance written statements before November 6 at 5 p.m. Hearing-day statements may instead be handed to the presiding officer. November times are interpreted as Cheyenne local time (MST); the notice does not explicitly specify timezone. Later orders remain unchecked. [S07]

R | OTHER CHEYENNE-AREA PROJECT
Correction to partner tracking: Black Hills’ June 10 release explicitly says Crusoe was no longer development partner for its 1.8 GW Cheyenne opportunity. This is older information newly reconciled into coverage, not a new departure. Keep other Crusoe/Tallgrass ventures separate until original records connect them. [S43]

R | OTHER CHEYENNE-AREA PROJECT
Employment check: the company’s Cheyenne Distribution Strategy Engineer posting, Job 36462, dates to October 1. Its separate Substation Engineer page, Job 36228, says inactive. These listings are new to this review, not verified new jobs since Friday. Neither names Horse Creek or establishes a filled position, dismissal or net workforce change. [S42]

Geographic Relevance

H | HORSE CREEK SITE — 1720 Horse Creek Road
Only records matched to 1720 Horse Creek Road receive the Horse Creek label. Supporting infrastructure still needs a documented route, parcel, service agreement or direct project reference.

R | OTHER CHEYENNE-AREA PROJECT
Cheyenne Prairie, Tembo/Jade, Meta, Microsoft and Related Digital/CoreWeave remain distinct regional projects. No new Horse Creek customer allocation was established. Tembo File 26-422 still displays its August postponement; that action does not establish final campus approval. [S16]

Community Impacts

U | LOCATION OR CONNECTION UNVERIFIED
The new Senate report examines Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, CoreWeave, Digital Realty and Equinix. Its authors question shared-grid cost responsibility and comprehensive permanent-job evidence. These are attributed national findings. Local contracts, employment results and incentive compliance must be examined before drawing a Cheyenne conclusion. [S41]

H | HORSE CREEK SITE — 1720 Horse Creek Road
No new site-specific pumping, noise, emissions, traffic or emergency-response study was verified. Consequently, today’s checks support no new numerical estimate of neighborhood harm or benefit. Earlier well-record calculations are not repeated as new measurements.

Strategy

H | HORSE CREEK SITE — 1720 Horse Creek Road
Priority: obtain DEQ’s F032681 record log and county site-plan/access file; retrieve the reported Book 2941, Page 3488 deed and easements. Ask for document dates, application numbers and submitted maps so a future permit can be matched promptly. These requests remain proposed, not sent. [S01, S19]

R | OTHER CHEYENNE-AREA PROJECT
Priority: retrieve full PSC histories for 278-EN, 273-EM and 275-EA, route exhibits and public cost-allocation terms. Test whether customer commitments cover shared upgrades, cancellation and public-service costs. Confirm later ISC 25-05 orders before choosing participation deadlines. [S11, S07]

U | LOCATION OR CONNECTION UNVERIFIED
Workforce and incentives: seek publishable aggregate local hiring/displacement results and enforceable job/tax commitments. A vacant or closed advertisement cannot resolve staffing. Use official agency and corporate channels; retain unresolved questions until evidence answers them.

Research Transparency

U | LOCATION OR CONNECTION UNVERIFIED
Comparison: Friday, October 9, through Tuesday morning, October 13. Checks included live OpenAir, DEQ/PSC indexes, county calendar/Tembo record, company merger/release/career pages, the SEC-hosted October 6 release, and fresh local/corporate/data-center news searches. The appendix separates successful checks from gaps. SEO authenticated searches, recorded instruments, complete PSC/SEC/Montana histories, labor notices and current lobbying/incentive records were not completed. No blanket clearance is claimed.

Checked-source Ledger

Checks below were made October 13. Coverage limits are part of every result.

H | Air inventory/applications/permits — Checked October 13

F032681; all operating statuses included. Not Yet Installed; no public applications/permits available. S01.

H | DEQ air/siting notice indexes — Checked, limited

Cheyenne/Prairie text checks; no new Horse Creek notice identified. Complete case correspondence not reviewed. S23.

R | PSC transmission/resource/tariff — Index checked; histories incomplete

278-EN, 275-EA, 273-EM listed. 278 PDF shell; DMS entry reached after slow access, no history search completed. S11.

R | County meetings / Tembo — Checked, limited

October calendar and Oct 6 meeting entry; Oct 8 Planning agenda and Oct 20 Commissioners agenda unavailable in retrieved calendar. Tembo old postponement still displayed. S16.

H | Deeds / easements / site permits — Not verified

Clerk entry accessible; original instruments and county permit logs not searched. Book 2941/Page 3488 remains a preliminary lead. S19.

H | Current water rights / transfers — Not verified

SEO instructions read; authenticated PLSS/applicant searches not completed. No absence-of-industrial-filings conclusion.

U | Merger / control / SEC changes — Partial check

Company merger hubs/release index and bounded SEC-domain searches; Oct 6 exhibit read. Complete EDGAR and Montana records not reviewed. S44–S45/S06.

R | Local recruiting / layoffs — Partial check

Two original career pages inspected; no publishable layoff announcement verified in searches. Labor/WARN database not checked; net jobs unknown. S42.

U | Fresh news / broad company discovery — Bounded searches

Seven-day news queries: Horse Creek/Prairie West, BKH/NorthWestern; Wyoming/Cheyenne Google, Meta, Microsoft, CoreWeave/Related, AWS, OpenAI, xAI/Grok, Oracle, Crusoe/Tallgrass. Older/recirculated results separated from events.

W | Site Layer 4 / Platte County — Partial check

County rezone entry retrieved but no decision documents exposed in returned text. Current outcome unverified; no Horse Creek relationship established.

U | Jobs / incentives / lobbying — New source; local checks outstanding

Senate October 9 report read. Wyoming certifications, realized job/tax totals, lobbying/campaign updates and public agreements not searched this run. S41.

Evidence key: Confirmed: directly observed in the stated record. Strongly Supported: credible support, essential original missing. Preliminary Lead: testable proposition. Unverified: insufficient evidence. A company statement is confirmed as a statement, not as an achieved outcome.

Public Sources

1. S01 | H — Wyoming DEQ OpenAir — Prairie West Energy Center, F032681
   Live check October 13: ID F032681; Operating Status blank (includes Not Yet Installed); default Minor/Synthetic Minor/Title V classes. Inventory, Applications and Permits inspected. Session navigation has no stable deep link.
2. S23 | H — Wyoming DEQ public-notice index
   October 13 search for Cheyenne and Prairie; industrial-siting entry page also inspected. No Horse Creek-specific new notice identified in this coverage. Index absence is not a full filing search.
3. S07 | R — Cheyenne Prairie expansion — DEQ/ISC 25-05 courtesy notice
   Published July 14, 2026; reread October 13. Participation paragraphs set advertised dates; later orders not obtained. This notice concerns Cheyenne Prairie, not Horse Creek.
4. S11 | R — Wyoming PSC — Public Notices
   October 13: reviewed CLFP entries; 278-EN/18235 (Sept 11), 275-EA/18175 (July 10), 273-EM/18157 (July 7). Index’s newest visible overall notice dated Oct 8. Docket histories and route maps incomplete.
5. S16 | R — Laramie County File 26-422 — Tembo HUB-1 office-support postponement
   Reread October 13: August 13 postponement remains displayed. Later proceedings may use other files; broader final-use status not verified.
6. S19 | H — Laramie County Clerk — Real Estate/Recordings
   Entry page accessible October 13. Original deed/easement searches not completed. County directs searches by legal description; premium online record viewing and free in-office resources are described.
7. S41 | U — Power and Profits: How the AI Data Center Boom Costs Households and Communities
   27-page Senate report released October 9, 2026; reviewed October 13, especially PDF pp. 2–5 and permanent-job discussion p. 15. National investigation and authors’ conclusions, not a Wyoming project adjudication.
8. S41a | U — Senate office release announcing Power and Profits
   Dated October 9; verifies report release date and company roster. Reviewed October 13.
9. S42 | R — Black Hills careers — Distribution Strategy Engineer, Job 36462
   October 13 page shows Cheyenne, posted October 1; recruiting evidence only. No Horse Creek assignment or filled-position outcome established.
10. S42a | R — Black Hills careers — Substation Engineer, Job 36228
    October 13 page says no longer active. Search snippet retains September 21 posting date while fetched page shows October 13; original posting chronology unresolved. Closed listing is not evidence of a layoff.
11. S43 | R — Black Hills — Update on 1.8-Gigawatt Project in Cheyenne
    June 10, 2026, 8:45 a.m. EDT; newly reconciled October 13. Company explicitly states Crusoe was no longer development partner. Historical correction, not new October event.
12. S44 | U — NorthWestern Energy — Black Hills merger hub
    Reviewed October 13 alongside combined-company site. Describes proposed combination; does not establish closing. Current Montana orders and full SEC chronology not reviewed.
13. S45 | U — Black Hills — Press Releases index
    October 13: latest displayed release October 8 concerns third-quarter earnings timing; no later merger/workforce release found on inspected first page. Not a complete employment or transaction census.
14. S06 | R — SEC Exhibit 99.1 — Black Hills Google agreements
    October 6 release reread October 13: generation at existing CPGS; prospective fourth-quarter Wyoming transmission filing. Company assertions, not an independent regulatory order or a Horse Creek assignment.

Full Report

Open the PDF briefing archive for the downloadable dated report and its source appendix.