Google has taken over an unfinished data centre project in southeastern Wyoming from Crusoe, and will invest $17 billion to develop the campus — its first data centre in the state. Crusoe confirmed the sale on November 6, a day after Google announced the investment. The deal closes a troubled chapter for a project that was meant to become one of the largest data centre campuses in America.

First, one clarification: $17 billion is Google's long-term investment in the campus, not the price it paid Crusoe. The sale price was not disclosed. The two numbers describe different things.

What changed hands

Crusoe, a Denver-based data centre developer recently valued at $30.9 billion, sold Google an unfinished project near Terry Ranch Road in Laramie County, in southeastern Wyoming.…