Cheyenne, Wyoming: home of cowboys, expansive vistas, and many advantages for data centers. Our home state has made a strong effort to promote the development of technology, telecommunications, and data centers.
There are a number of reasons to choose Cheyenne colocation, including low energy costs, high-speed fiber, safety from natural disasters, reliable power, and a 6% sales tax exemption. Read each of the tabs below to see why Wyoming is a great environment for data centers.
Green House Data not only met our technical requirements, but it also shares our core values.
Wyoming Business Council
Low Cost Per kWh
Wyoming has some of the lowest energy prices in the U.S. Compared to popular data center locations like California, New York, and Illinois, our headquarters pays 50% less for electricity.
By designing the WY1 and WY2 facilities to be very energy efficient, we also save our customers up to 84% on energy costs (compared to a 2.0 PUE data center). Energy-efficient efforts include:
PUE of 1.14 or lower
Free cooling, or using filtered outside air passed through water instead of traditional computer room air conditioners (CRACS), is a major factor in reducing energy use for Cheyenne colocation deployments.
100 Gbps FiberCheyenne is located at a major fiber exchange, as you can see from the map to the right, which shows the distance in miles from major fiber connections.
We also have the first 100 Gbps circuits in the state. Available speeds range from the Mbps up to 100 Gbps, with popular choices being 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps.
Cheyenne colocation customers can also choose from several on-net providers including CenturyLink, Level 3, Charter Communications, and Zayo.
Network details:
Wyoming is one of the most reliable power grids in the country, as ranked by Eaton in their annual Blackout Tracker report. The state reported only 16 outages in 2016, averaging just 29 minutes.
The average cost of an outage can be over $100,000 per hour and most data centers are located in states that are at a high risk for disasters including California (14% of all data centers), New York (8%), or Florida (5%).
Cheyenne and Wyoming, on the other hand, are virtually free from the threat of disaster, as the below maps demonstrate. Zero hurricane risk, low earthquake and tornado risk, and only one flood in the past few decades: all reasons to colocate in Cheyenne.
Sources: The New York Times, Sperling’s Best Places’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; University of Miami; U.S. Geological Survey, www.datacentermap.com, Aberdeen Group
The Wyoming Business Council and other organizations have worked hard to attract data-center operators to the Equality State by creating a favorable business climate to match the physical environment.
Recent additions to Cheyenne's data center scene include Echostar, Microsoft, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
Because Green House Data has invested over $2 million in Wyoming, we qualify for the Data Center Sales Tax Exemption. Customers can purchase new equipment through Green House Data to save the 6% sales tax.
Purchasing $500,000 in equipment would lead to savings of $30,000 — the equivalent of 6-12 months of colocation. You're basically getting hosting for free. Even if you only buy a few servers—say, $5,000 worth—there's $300 back in your pocket.
Grant of up to $2.25 million, based on how much capital investment and payroll the business will realize over five years. Green House Data was approved in 2014 and used the grant to help develop 100 Gbps fiber-line connections.
Taxes and regulatory hindrances are rare in Wyoming, enabling business growth and innovation. Wyoming has a 0% corporate income tax and just 0.652% effective commercial property tax rate. These are exceptionally low compared to other more populous states:
California
8.84% corporate income tax
1.27% effective commercial property tax rate
Illinois
7% corporate income tax
1.7983% effective commercial property tax rate
New York
7.1% corporate income tax
3.307% effective commercial property tax rate
