Wyoming lawmakers will take a second look next week at whether large electricity users should be allowed to buy power from independent generators when an incumbent utility cannot serve them on schedule, reviving a proposal that narrowly failed in another legislative committee last month.
The Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology and Digital Innovation Technology is scheduled to discuss public utilities at its Sept. 28 meeting in Laramie, according to the Legislature’s official agenda. Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, said the new version would give the existing utility a right of first refusal but open the door to an independent supplier if the utility does not agree within one year to serve the proposed project.
The concept is aimed at customers whose power demand is measured in tens or hundreds of megawatts, including data centers and trona operations. A Sept. 21 report by Cowboy State Daily said the new framework would apply to a customer group using more than 10 megawatts. Independent suppliers would have to contract directly with those customers, avoid using the incumbent utility’s grid or facilities, refrain from reselling power to the public and prevent costs from shifting to other ratepayers.
The Legislature has already debated a related version. An Aug. 27 draft before the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee would have created a regulatory exception for generators serving one customer above 25 megawatts or as many as four customers whose combined demand exceeded 100 megawatts. The Senate members of the panel supported advancing it, but the House side deadlocked 4-4, ending that draft’s path through the committee.
Supporters argue that competition could shorten connection timelines for projects in Sweetwater and Carbon counties and help Wyoming capture investment that otherwise may move elsewhere. Rocky Mountain Power has urged lawmakers to keep the regulated utility model and address the barriers that slow construction. Company representatives have pointed to supply-chain limits and rules that generally prevent a utility from building facilities speculatively before a customer commits.
Those arguments put the proposal directly against Wyoming’s traditional regulatory structure. The Public Service Commission approves electric rates, reviews wholesale-cost adjustments and integrated resource plans, and grants certificates for major plants and some transmission lines. Defining an independent supplier as a utility, while exempting a limited sale from parts of that system, would require lawmakers to decide which consumer protections and reliability obligations still apply.
The stakes have grown as the state courts energy-intensive development. A Cheyenne-area artificial-intelligence data center announced in 2025 was designed to begin at 1.8 gigawatts and potentially scale to 10 gigawatts, according to Associated Press reporting. Not every large project would use the regulated grid, but the scale illustrates why lawmakers are revisiting who may supply power and on what terms.
The Sept. 28 discussion does not enact a new market. Any committee-backed draft would still need approval during the 2027 legislative session. For now, the central question is whether a limited escape valve for large customers can attract investment without weakening reliability rules or transferring infrastructure costs to households and existing businesses.
