Opponents of a proposed 300-megawatt artificial intelligence data center on Cayuga Lake plan to gather Friday at Salt Point Natural Area in Lansing, where they will urge Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign legislation restricting large-scale data center development.
The press conference is scheduled for noon Friday, Aug. 28, at Salt Point Natural Area, 1 Salt Point Road. Local and state elected officials, activists and community leaders are expected to take part as part of a statewide “Stop Data Centers” tour organized by state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez and the environmental group Food & Water Watch.
Members of the FLX Strong coalition are expected to discuss their opposition to TeraWulf's proposed data center on the Cayuga Lake shoreline. The coalition says the project would create environmental, quality-of-life and economic concerns across the watershed.
According to the event advisory, the developers would need to clear more than 40 acres of forested hillside and blast bedrock in some areas to construct buildings for computing equipment used by companies including Google and Core42. Organizers also cited concerns about construction noise, ongoing operations, wildlife near the Cayuga Shores Wildlife Management Area, electric-grid reliability and rising power costs.
The Lansing proposal is one of 14 operating or proposed hyperscale data center sites being highlighted during the monthlong tour.
Organizers are calling on Hochul to sign the Responsible Data Center Development Act, which passed both chambers of the state Legislature with bipartisan support in June. The advisory says the bill would impose a one-year moratorium on hyperscale data centers larger than 20 megawatts while requiring future projects to meet energy-efficiency standards, join a host-community public benefit program, use project labor agreements and undergo public hearings before permits are approved.
The proposal follows Hochul's July 14 executive order establishing a temporary moratorium on large-scale data centers larger than 50 megawatts. Event organizers argue that the legislation would cover more projects and address environmental, economic, labor and community impacts more broadly.
Speakers listed for Friday include Gonzalez, Assemblymember Anna Kelles, state Sen. Lea Webb, Tompkins County Legislator Irene Weiser, Brian Eden and Harold Mills of FLX Strong, Sam Poole of the City of Ithaca Climate Justice Commission and Sunrise Ithaca, Jhakeem Haltom of New Roots Charter School, and Laura Shindell of Food & Water Watch.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.
