Maryland-based technology company TeraWulf is vying to open a data center in Lansing.
The center, planned on the site of Milliken Station, a decommissioned coal power plant on Cayuga Lake, has faced controversy in recent months, with opponents voicing concerns about the potential environmental impacts of the center as well as possible energy cost increases for residents. An additional argument against the data center is that the number of long-term jobs created is very low. New York State Assemblymember Dr. Anna Kelles, who represents Tompkins County and part of Cortland County, has repeatedly opposed projects like these. Dr. Kelles wrote about TeraWulf’s artificial intelligence (AI) data center proposal in numerous opinion pieces in the Ithaca Times.
TeraWulf may well have chosen Milliken Station because of its position along Cayuga Lake. Lake water could be used for cooling purposes through an existing water intake system on the property. TeraWulf named the feature as a prominent asset of the property in investor records, which signals that the company may intend to utilize the system; however, when addressing the public, the company denied that they would use the cooling mechanism. It’s possible TeraWulf thought that the feature’s warming effect on Cayuga Lake could be a turn off for locals and Lansing politicians: environmentalists warn such a system could lead to thermal pollution in Cayuga Lake.
Proposals for the Lansing site did not match zoning standards for the property and were initially rejected, so TeraWulf issued two appeals with the Town of Lansing Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), arguing that the center would function as a scientific research laboratory, a general processing facility, or a warehouse, all of which would align with regulations. The ZBA voted to reject the scientific research laboratory and warehouse classifications, but a 3-2 vote last December approved the appeal to designate the proposed data center as a general processing facility. For TeraWulf, the next step is the Town of Lansing Planning Board, where the AI data center will be thoroughly scrutinized in future meetings.
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