The Lansing Town Board began its Nov. 19 meeting with a unanimous vote to withdraw the proposal for a one-year moratorium on construction projects within its jurisdiction. This swift vote is the conclusive outcome of two months of delays and deliberation. Since this summer, a divisive proposal for a data center has dominated discussions surrounding the moratorium. The moratorium threatened to delay the construction of the data center by at least a year, but this vote will allow Maryland-based technology company TeraWulf to proceed with its plans for the center.
TeraWulf announced in August that it plans to turn the site of the decommissioned Cayuga Power Plant into a data campus used for artificial intelligence computing. The company, which has leased the site for 80 years, faced backlash from members of the Tompkins County community regarding the proposed center’s impact on the environment and local energy prices.
Many community members attended town board meetings to speak out in favor of the moratorium and against the proposed data center. After the moratorium proposal was withdrawn this evening, community members continued to share their thoughts about the data center — both for and against — with the board during the public forum.
A large group of attendees wore red shirts to protest the data center project, encouraged by a local organization called No Data Center FLX. Several addressed the board during the public forum, reiterating concerns about the center’s potential impact on the community and imploring the board to prevent its construction. Others spoke out in favor of the data center, including one Adam Millspaugh who introduced himself as a representative of TeraWulf and thanked the board for withdrawing the moratorium.
Town Supervisor Ruth Groff previously said that the moratorium proposal is a common procedure and is not targeted at TeraWulf. While TeraWulf Chief Operating Officer Sean Farrell said that the Cayuga site will eventually be developed despite any delays, the moratorium threatened to delay TeraWulf’s plans for its 183-acre data campus. Without a moratorium, TeraWulf can continue to secure permits and eventually break ground on the site. According to their press release, they plan for the facility to be partially-operational sometime in 2026.
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