Why It Matters
As Cheyenne rapidly transforms into one of the Mountain West’s fastest-growing data center hubs, property records reveal that thousands of acres surrounding Microsoft’s planned expansion are owned by companies and family members connected to U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis — one of the tech industry’s most vocal champions in Congress.
The overlap between the senator’s family holdings and Microsoft’s announced land purchases raises questions about potential financial benefit to the Lummis family at a time when she has actively sponsored legislation favorable to the tech and cryptocurrency sectors.
What Happened
Microsoft announced in April that it intends to acquire 200 acres adjacent to its existing data center in Cheyenne’s Bison Business Park, along with another 3,000 acres nearby — a 3,200-acre expansion in total. The tech company displayed a map of that expansion at a community information session in Cheyenne, and it shows the planned land purchases extending into property tied to the Lummis family.
Microsoft’s original Cheyenne data center was built on 249 acres purchased from the Lummis family in 2021. Surrounding that facility, Lummis family members and associated companies own approximately 6,000 contiguous acres — land that nearly encircles the existing facility and falls within the footprint of Microsoft’s growth plans.
Property records show those holdings are spread across several entities, including Arp and Hammond Hardware Co., Lummis Livestock Co., Old Horse Pasture Inc., and Sweetgrass Land Co. Arp and Hammond, whose president is the senator’s brother Doran Lummis, carved out a 200-acre parcel adjacent to the Microsoft site in April 2025 — roughly a year before the company publicly announced its intent to expand there.
Sen. Lummis, her brother Doran, and her daughter Annaliese Wiederspahn all declined to comment or grant interviews on the matter. Microsoft also did not comment. Wiederspahn sits on the board of Cheyenne LEADS, a local economic development organization that has promoted data center growth in the region.
By the Numbers
- 3,200 acres — Total land Microsoft plans to acquire in its Cheyenne-area expansion
- 6,000 acres — Approximate acreage owned by Lummis family members and associated companies surrounding the Microsoft facility
- $1.34 million — PAC donations received by Lummis from cryptocurrency and tech interests between December 2021 and July 2025
- 40–70 — Number of new data center proposals Cheyenne is currently weighing, according to some estimates
- 73% — Share of the vote Lummis received in her 2020 Senate election victory
The Senator’s Tech Record
Lummis has been among the most tech-forward members of the U.S. Senate, earning the informal title “crypto queen” for sponsoring at least five significant pieces of legislation covering cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and stablecoin regulation. She has publicly argued that Wyoming’s coal resources and potential nuclear energy capacity make the state a natural home for energy-intensive data centers and AI infrastructure.
“If we don’t power America’s AI with Wyoming energy, China will build their AI dominance on their coal instead,” Lummis wrote in a September op-ed addressing constituent concerns about the data center boom.
Lummis announced in December that she will not seek reelection.
Zoom Out
Cheyenne’s emergence as a data center destination is driven by several factors: abundant and affordable energy, a cool climate that reduces cooling costs, no corporate income tax, and large tracts of available land. Microsoft has framed its expansion as a boost to southeast Wyoming’s economy and technology sector.
Community concerns, however, have grown alongside the industry. Residents have raised alarms about water consumption, energy demand, and landscape changes. Those concerns led the Cheyenne City Council to consider a temporary halt on new data center permits — but as previously reported, the council ultimately voted against a moratorium.
What’s Next
Microsoft’s land purchases remain pending, and it is not yet confirmed which specific parcels under Lummis family ownership would be sold or when transactions might close. Whether Congress or federal ethics bodies will scrutinize the overlap between Lummis’s legislative record and her family’s potential financial stake in the expansion has not been publicly addressed. With Lummis not seeking reelection, her remaining time in office will coincide with the period during which Microsoft’s Cheyenne build-out is expected to accelerate.
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