Bernard Looney, whose tenure as CEO of BP ended with him embattled in controversy, is entering the AI age as the new CEO of Wyoming-based Prometheus Hyperscale, leading a bevy of data center campus developments in the Cowboy State as well as the Lone Star state of Texas.
Looney, who pushed BP toward renewables in the energy transition, resigned suddenly from that company’s CEO post in 2023 amid a probe by the company into undisclosed personal relationships. Since then, BP has struggled financially, cutting costs and pivoting away from renewables and back to fossil fuels.
Coincidentally, BP’s new CEO takes over April 1. Meg O’Neill, the former Woodside Energy head, becomes the first-ever woman CEO of a Big Oil giant.
Looney became non-executive chair of Prometheus in late 2024. He takes over as CEO from the company’s founder, Trenton Thornock, who will remain a board member.
Prometheus is primarily focused on two flagship data center projects in Wyoming—in Evanston and Casper—with a combined initial capacity of 2.5 gigawatts, enough to power almost 2 million homes. The two projects are expected to cost more than $30 billion.
Prometheus is focused on speed of construction and cleaner energy, utilizing a combination of behind-the-meter natural gas and battery storage to get projects completed and then utilize more wind, solar, and even advanced nuclear power. The data centers are expected to use a proprietary geothermal cooling technology that doesn’t require water, according to the company.
“As artificial intelligence and digital technologies continue to reshape our world, it is crucial that we build the necessary infrastructure responsibly. This is the mission we have set ourselves,” Looney said in a statement, touting Prometheus as being at the “forefront of next-generation data center development.”
Prometheus is backed by In-Q-Tel, the venture capital fund backed by the Central Intelligence Agency and the broader U.S. intelligence community, and others, and has power partnerships with Conduit Power, France’s Engie, Sam Altman–backed nuclear player Oklo, and more.
