Letter to the editor: From smoke to silicon: How the Cayuga Data Campus Can Revitalize Lansing

To the Editor: The leaves are turning in Tompkins County – and so too may be the future of a long-dormant site in Lansing. The former Cayuga coal plant, shuttered for more than five years, is now poised for a remarkable transformation into the Cayuga Data Campus: a hub for high-performance digital innovation.

This opportunity comes at a critical moment. Lansing’s preliminary 2026–27 budget projects a tax increase of more than 20%, with one town official warning, “it’s not going to be pretty for the next few years.” Meanwhile, the national economy is slowing.

Against this backdrop, TeraWulf – a publicly traded digital infrastructure company – has proposed nearly $500 million of investment to repurpose Cayuga.

The benefits are substantial. At full build-out, the project will employ about 500 union construction workers and create more than 100 permanent, high-tech jobs. At TeraWulf’s Niagara County campus, the average salary is $74,000 – the kind of career that keeps young people from leaving to find opportunity elsewhere.

The financial impact is equally important. With an initial 50 MW capacity, scaling to 138 MW, the campus is expected to generate up to $10 million annually in new property tax revenue – funding teachers and essential services without adding to homeowners’ burden. TeraWulf has pledged $100,000 per year to a community fund supporting local programs.

Combined with the ripple effect of new workers frequenting restaurants and small businesses, the benefits to Lansing are undeniable. Backed by institutional investors including Google, this project is designed as a long-term anchor, not a short-term bet.

The project also delivers environmental benefits. TeraWulf is working with the site’s landlord to transfer lakefront acreage into a designated Wildlife Management Area–protecting habitat and conserving open space. In addition, the Cornell Tech Policy Institute and TeraWulf have established a “Partnership for Innovation at Cayuga” to make the project a national model for responsible data center development and regional innovation, resilience, and applied policy research.

Concerns about water, noise, and energy are understandable – and answerable. The cooling system is closed-loop, recirculating water and requiring only a few gallons of utility water daily. Operations will be no louder than a refrigerator. And this zone of the New York grid produces more than triple the supply needed for local demand, so residents’ electricity rates should not be affected.

Yet just as Lansing has the chance to lead, the Town Board is considering a one-year moratorium on new development. However well-intentioned, such a move risks sending this transformational investment elsewhere – leaving Lansing with higher taxes, fewer jobs, and a rusting relic of the past. The choice is clear: let’s turn the page to a better future for Tompkins County.

To learn more, please join TeraWulf and IBEW Local 241 / Tompkins-Cortland Building Trades Council for an Open House on Tuesday, October 7, from 6:00–7:30 p.m. at the Lansing Middle School Auditorium. For more information, visit eventbrite.com/e/lansing-community-open-house-cayuga-data-center-project-tickets-1761488011059?aff=oddtdtcreator. To watch a livestream of the open house, visit www.youtube.com/@terawulf.

-Sean Farrell, Chief Operating Officer, TeraWulf Inc.
Easton, MD
-Todd Bruer, Business Manager, IBEW Local 241President, Tompkins-Cortland Building & Construction Trades Council
Dryden