{"id":16688,"date":"2026-04-05T11:10:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T18:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=16688"},"modified":"2026-04-05T11:12:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T18:12:36","slug":"former-bp-ceo-to-lead-prometheus-hyperscales-30b-wyoming-data-center-buildout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2026\/04\/05\/former-bp-ceo-to-lead-prometheus-hyperscales-30b-wyoming-data-center-buildout\/","title":{"rendered":"Former BP CEO To Lead Prometheus Hyperscale\u2019s $30B Wyoming Data Center Buildout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Actually, it’s going to be AI and then die to correct Mr. Looney. As all this AI is going to be for the mark of the beast technocratic control system in the tribulation period, where God unleashes His judgement on this wicked world system for seven years, culminating in the death of all unbelievers. Interestingly, we get some details on the “closed loop water cooling” which involves grabbing water from an aquifer (different from what locals use?) and then using pools to return it to the aquifer, which would involve evaporation seeming to indicate some misleading terminology. And the CIA’s venture capital firm with a board seat paints an interesting picture. I’d place a wager that we’ll see a lot of Indians with H-1B visas in these communities to work in these data centers, reminding me of the Costco in Folsom, California, full of Indians working for Intel nearby. Given the suspicious claims regarding water use, what will happens with electricity rates?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.com\/2026\/04\/01\/former-bp-ceo-to-lead-prometheus-hyperscales-30b-wyoming-data-center-buildout\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
Former BP chief Bernard Looney has been named CEO of Wyoming startup Prometheus Hyperscale, which plans two AI data centers totaling $30 billion. Looney says Wyoming\u2019s energy edge makes it the right place for the buildout.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

By Ren\u00e9e Jean<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Former
Former BP chief Bernard Looney has been named CEO of Wyoming startup Prometheus Hyperscale, which plans two AI data centers totaling $30 billion. Looney says Wyoming\u2019s energy edge makes it the right place for the buildout. (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Things are moving into high gear for Prometheus Hyperscale, a Wyoming-based data center developer<\/a> that is planning to build two huge 1.2-gigawatt data centers, one in Evanston and one in Casper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company has just announced that oil and gas heavy-hitter Bernard Looney will be taking over as CEO to lead the two projects, which total $30 billion, making them among the largest private investments Wyoming has ever seen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looney was chief executive of British oil company BP from 2020 to 2023. Although he was ousted over allegations he had improperly failed to disclose a prior romantic relationship, Looney has three decades of experience with BP handling multibillion-dollar projects for the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my career, I\u2019ve been responsible for overseeing some of the largest energy projects in the world,\u201d he told Cowboy State Daily. \u201cWe built a gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea all the way through Georgia, Turkey, all the way into Greece, all the way into Italy, into Europe. That was a $44 billion project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looney has been involved in many other huge projects for oil and gas around the world \u2014 Papua and Indonesia, West Africa, the United States, and Trinidad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo I have a lot of experience in building projects,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re about to build some big projects with some very big numbers of $30 billion-plus in Wyoming alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that kind of experience, Looney\u2019s moves would be news anywhere. That he\u2019s centering his comeback in Wyoming \u2014 far from the traditional power centers of London, New York, or Silicon Valley \u2014 is a striking twist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looney sees it as a natural fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to do this because I think AI is the future,\u201d he said. \u201cA friend of mine said \u2018AI or die.\u2019 So AI is the future. America has a strategic objective to win the battle in the AI space, and if we want to win in AI, we\u2019ve got to have energy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wyoming, meanwhile, exports 15 times more energy than it uses, Looney pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to keep some of that energy in Wyoming and see if we can do something with it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I can\u2019t think of anything better than taking some of that energy and converting it into electrons and taking the electrons and converting it into intelligence. That\u2019s what we\u2019re going to try and do with the data centers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Trenton
Trenton Thornock, Founder and CEO of Prometheus Hyperscale and Brady Thornock on their family\u2019s ranch in Uinta County. (Courtesy Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Looney\u2019s Take On Energy Prices And Data Centers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Energy prices top the list of worries Wyomingites have about data centers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Energy costs in Wyoming have already been spiking, with companies like Rocky Mountain Power seeking a 30% rate increase<\/a> in 2023. Many consumers are worried that data centers will make an already runaway problem even worse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looney acknowledges the fear, but says the company plans to be largely self-sufficient when it comes to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe vast majority of the power that we plan to generate in these two projects will be what they call behind-the-meter, or an island solution,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll actually generate our own power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We will, in time, connect to the grid, but if anything, we ought to be able to help the grid, rather than put a load on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looney doesn\u2019t believe the projects will drive up energy costs because Prometheus plans to generate most of its own power and will diversify its fuel mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll start off with natural gas,\u201d he said. \u201cThen, over time, we\u2019ll blend in solar, we\u2019ll blend in wind, and then we may blend in some of these small modular (nuclear) reactors over time as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company has signed a letter of intent with Sam Altman-backed Oklo Partners for a 20-year nuclear power purchase agreement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oklo is developing fast fission power plants that it says will provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy at scale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has already received a site use permit from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and is developing advanced fuel recycling technologies with both DOE and the U.S. National Laboratories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to do this in as responsible a way as possible,\u201d Looney said. \u201cSo, it will start off with that whole gamut. And the great news is that Wyoming\u2019s got all of the above, which is another reason why it\u2019s a great place for us to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What About Water?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Water is a close second on the list of concerns Wyomingites have about data centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looney, who is a drilling engineer by profession, said the company has designed a proprietary system to cool its AI centers, one that will leverage geothermal cooling by recycling water from aquifers far below the drinking water table. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will drill some wells, and we will make sure that we\u2019re not connected to any aquifer that\u2019s providing water to communities,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so, we\u2019ll essentially circulate the water from there through the plant and back on the ground. So, it\u2019s a closed-loop circulating system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prometheus founder Trenton Thornock has previously told Cowboy State Daily that the water issue is one he personally shares, growing up as he did on a fifth-generation farming operation near Evanston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a ranching family,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to stay away from that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By cycling non-potable water from deep underground in a closed loop, the centers can shed heat without using appreciable amounts of fresh water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A rendering of what Prometheus Hyperscale’s Wyoming campus could look like at build-out. (Prometheus Hyperscale)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Keeping Wyoming Young People Home<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For Looney, a big part of his pitch to Wyoming is how the Evanston and Casper data centers can help keep Wyoming young people home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each center, scalable beyond the initial 1.25 or so gigawatts, could employ upward of 600 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That scale, Looney added, is why the job numbers that have been associated with the two projects are so high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvanston, we think could go to 4 or 5 gigawatts and Casper could go to maybe 2, 2.5 gigawatts,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd these will be skilled, they should be well-paying jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looney doesn\u2019t believe the company will have any trouble recruiting workforce to Wyoming, if need be, but that\u2019s not the primary aim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wants to build a talent pipeline that will train Wyomingites for the positions to keep more Wyoming young adults in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thornock has previously talked with Cowboy State Daily about having friends who felt forced to leave the state because they couldn\u2019t find the right high-paying opportunities, and says it is something of a personal mission for him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prometheus has unveiled plans for an educational pipeline<\/a> to train data center workers in Wyoming, and those investments are not only going to continue, but will likely spread to other institutions, Looney said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometime later this month there will be a day at Casper College where people will be taken through the workings of a data center and what it takes to run those,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s just the beginning of us wanting to invest in education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backers Include U.S. Intelligence<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Prometheus\u2019 ambitions have attracted some notable backers, including the venture capital arm that invests on behalf of U.S. intelligence agencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looney confirmed that In-Q-Tel has not only taken a stake in Prometheus, but will place a representative on the company\u2019s board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just a great vote of confidence in what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Looney said. \u201cBecause, as you can imagine, they have all sorts of opportunities to invest their money, and they\u2019ve chosen to invest with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such involvement also underscores how seriously policymakers and intelligence strategists are taking Prometheus Hyperscale\u2019s Wyoming projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a growing confidence that we\u2019re building a company of real scale,\u201d Looney said. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about a pipeline that we can see approaching 10 gigawatts and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Across the United States, we can see incredible need for capital investment \u2014 numbers that are familiar to me from my oil and gas days, but they\u2019re still extraordinary numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And those extraordinary numbers are something Prometheus plans in both Evanston and Casper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe two projects in Wyoming will cost more than $30 billion,\u201d Looney said. \u201cAnd I think Trenton and the board are gaining sufficient confidence that now is the time for the company to move to its next stage, and they felt that I could, given my experience, help them with that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Actually, it’s going to be AI and then die to correct Mr. Looney. As all this AI is going to be for the mark of the beast technocratic control system in the tribulation period, where God unleashes His judgement on this wicked world system for seven years, culminating in the death of all unbelievers. Interestingly, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wyoming"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16688"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16691,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16688\/revisions\/16691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}