Data center opponents see executive order as partial win

When Gov. Kathy Hochul last week signed an executive order establishing the first statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers, it was both a win and a disappointment for groups in Lansing, near Ithaca, who are fighting against a data center proposal in their community. 

They had hoped the governor would instead sign legislation placing a one-year moratorium on most New York data centers above 20 megawatts.

In June, over 20,000 people signed a petition urging the Lansing Town Board to reject the development plan for an AI data center on Cayuga Lake. More than 17,000 of the signatures are from New York residents, including some from Rochester, organizers say. 

The proposal, submitted by Maryland-based tech company TeraWulf, would include the construction of a 300- or 400-megawatt hyperscale AI data center at a retired coal plant on the shoreline of Cayuga Lake just north of Ithaca. In its initial announcement, the company stated that acquiring land to start this project marked a major step forward in its expansion of high-performance computing and AI data center hosting. 

Called Lake Hawkeye Data, the project is described by TeraWulf as “designed with the community in mind”—a “modern research and technology hub” that “revitalizes a long-standing industrial property (and) transforms it into a center for advanced digital processing and research innovation.” 

Those who support data centers—such as members of labor unions—largely cite job creation as a benefit. However, since the development plans were announced, a number of residents of Lansing and the surrounding areas, including the Rochester region, have banded together to oppose the data center. 

FLX Strong, one of the groups at the forefront of this opposition, is a community-based movement of residents and various nonprofits that has been providing news and updates, resources and education to the public. The group has raised a number of environmental, economic, and health concerns. 

For Gay Nicholson, president of Sustainable Finger Lakes, an environmental nonprofit involved with FLX Strong, one of the main concerns is a data center’s impact on an already fragile electrical grid. 

“The original electricity generation in the state has been fossil fuel-based, especially downstate,” says Nicholson. “Twenty-nine percent of (the fossil fuel generating plants) are over 50 years old, and 10% of them are over 70 years old, so they’re prone to break down. Of course, add in the problem of the storms, the more and more extreme weather taking down lines and putting pressure on the grid, or knocking out generation supply. It’s all a tricky, complex problem to solve. Hence, do not add any data centers to this already hairy situation.” 

As a member of FLX Strong, Nicholson says, Sustainable Finger Lakes focuses on grid impacts. The organization has a long history of helping low-income families switch to high-efficiency heat pumps for heating and cooling, and teaching about climate and reducing emissions.

Nicholson notes that there has already been an 110% increase in electricity delivery rates since 2020, and there is no current plan to address the impact on the grid or the resulting higher electricity prices resulting from the addition of a data center. A New York Independent System Operator representative was not available to comment in time for this article’s publication. (The NYISO monitors the reliability of the state’s power system and coordinates supply distribution.)

Other concerns cited by critics are largely environmental. The viral petition, posted by No Data Center FLX, reads: “(TeraWulf’s) proposed plans involve new power transmission line construction through wetlands, which has the potential to change the habitat type for decades, stir up sediments which endangers aquatic life, and greatly reduce the wetland’s water holding capacity—potentially permanently altering the wetland hydrology, if not outright destroying the wetlands all together.” 

The petition also mentions noise pollution caused by construction, the emission of harmful pollutants and TeraWulf’s plan to “use up to 700,000 gallons of lake water per day for mist cooling on particularly hot days.” 

FLX Strong is pushing for the town and planning board in Lansing to consider the full environmental and health impacts of TeraWulf’s proposal before allowing a permit. 

Part of this conflict also has to do with Lansing’s zoning laws. Last fall, the Lansing Town Board considered a one-year moratorium on large developments while officials began rewriting the zoning code, but ultimately voted against it at a November 2025 meeting.

The Lansing Town Board did not respond to the Beacon’s request for comment. 

FLX Strong partnered with Cayuga Lake Environmental Action Now to file an Article 78 lawsuit against the Lansing Zoning Board of Appeals, TeraWulf, Cayuga Operating Co. LLC (a subsidiary of TeraWulf), Lake Hawkeye LLC, and Fred DelFavero, the project’s manager. 

Originally, the Lansing appeals board had concluded that the proposed TeraWulf data center did not meet the requirements to be considered a scientific research facility, which the company claimed it was, but eventually granted TeraWulf an appeal that classified the data center as a general processing facility. 

According to the No Data Center FLX website, “the Article 78 proceeding seeks to correct fundamental errors of law and violations of lawful procedure by Lansing ZBA in adopting an interpretation of the town’s zoning ordinances, affirming that their 300 MW AI data center could be classified in the legacy use category ‘general processing.’”

The Lansing ZBA decision to classify the data center plans under “general processing” has been taken out of context of the original zoning code, Nicholson says.

“It’s a stretch,” she says. “Anything could be called ‘general processing.’ We can’t pretend a massive data center fits into that.” 

As the petition was being circulated and a lawsuit was filed, FLX Strong and involved groups were also pushing for Hochul to sign the Responsible Data Center Development Act that would have put a one-year moratorium on all New York data centers above 20 megawatts (excluding facilities that are majority-owned, operated or controlled by public research institutions and used for research purposes, or already began construction before the act’s effective date). The bill also contained provisions such as requirements for data centers to fund local benefits like residential energy upgrades and drinking water and to host public hearings before getting issued a permit by the Department of Environmental Conservation. The legislation has been approved by the state Legislature, but has not yet been signed by Hochul. 

The executive order, by contrast, places a temporary moratorium on all new hyperscale data centers that require 50 megawatts or more. The purpose of the moratorium is to give the state more time to assess the impact of data centers and build a regulatory framework. The Department of Public Service has been directed to develop an environmental impact statement that assesses “the potential environmental impacts of the construction and operation of data centers in the state, including energy demand, water use and quality, air quality, disproportionate impacts on disadvantaged communities, and noise levels.” The review process will also include public hearings. 

“New York has always been at the forefront of innovation and change, but we’ve also always guaranteed that New Yorkers benefit,” Hochul says. “As data center development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it’s my responsibility to take action and lead. New York will lead the way in creating the strongest standards in the nation for data center development, ensuring that when companies succeed because of New York, New Yorkers succeed too.”

According to the executive order press release, Hochul is also “pursuing legislation to repeal sales tax exemptions for massive data centers across the state.” 

It is currently unclear what effect the executive order will have on the plans for Lake Hawkeye. 

“The principles identified in the Executive Order (i.e., grid reliability, responsible resource planning, environmental stewardship, and meaningful community benefits) are fully consistent with how TeraWulf has approached development from the outset,” says TeraWulf’s chief strategy officer, Kerri Langlais. “We are also evaluating potential on-site power generation opportunities at the Lansing site that align with those objectives.

“The executive order does not change our expectations for Lake Hawkeye, which has always been contemplated as a long-term, multi-year development,” she adds. “Nor does it affect the local planning and review process currently underway in Lansing, and we look forward to continuing to engage constructively with the Planning Board and other stakeholders as the project advances.” 

For FLX Strong and allied groups, the fight against a data center in their community is far from over. 

Although news of the moratorium was “initially exciting,” says Allison DeSario of No Data Center FLX, “it’s an important distinction to make that it’s not the bill, it’s an executive order.” 

Kenneth Wolkin, president of FLX Strong, says “the political implications of Hochul enacting a moratorium via executive order—instead of signing the bill as it was sent to her by the Legislature—are massive, and disappointing.” 

The groups are still collecting signatures on the petition to the Lansing Town Board, and are still pushing for Hochul to pass the full bill. DeSario emphasizes the sales tax exemptions legislation that Hochul is pursuing, citing a news report about TeraWulf’s facilities in Niagara County. 

“They haven’t paid any sales tax, and they’re doing a massive expansion,” DeSario says. “It was kind of a surprise to the county manager there that they weren’t paying sales tax. It’s all this money that the county and the state are missing out on because this huge developer is not paying any sales tax.” 

Terawulf reportedly has maintained the data center’s operations are exempt from state sales taxes due to a provision in a 2000 law exempting taxes for tangible property sold to a business operating an internet data center.

Nicholson also points to a fire that broke out in early June at that data center. The facility reportedly lacked a functional alarm system or a proper fire suppression system. Firefighters also discovered unlabeled chemicals upon entering the building. 

Regarding TeraWulf’s plans in Lansing, these advocates are confident the executive order will have an impact. 

“They don’t have permits from anyone. They don’t even have a fully submitted project plan to the planning board. All they have is a zoning appeal approval,” DeSario explains. 

She encourages residents to keep showing up to planning board meetings where TeraWulf is presenting to understand what they are thinking. In the meantime, FLX Strong has also been hosting public educational events and is promoting action items for those who oppose the data center and want to get involved. 

A playlist of environmental educational webinar videos from Sustainable Finger Lakes, including information about data centers and the New York grid, is available here.

Alefiya Presswala is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and member of the Oasis Project’s second cohort.

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