3 Reasons We Oppose a New AI Data Center in Tompkins Country (Part 1)

Nov 24

1: Lack of transparency related to power usage.

TeraWulf claims there is surplus power in Zone C, where Tompkins County is located, but according to guidelines published by the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Association of Attorneys General, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, there is essentially no way to physically track the electrons from energy producers to consumers on the New York grid.

The company’s Lake Mariner facility in Somerset, NY, which TeraWulf claims runs on 93% zero-carbon energy, does not appear to use any energy that can be legally characterized as renewable. “Currently, none of the power that NYPA provides the firm can be claimed as renewable power,” the New York Power Authority stated. TeraWulf buys the rest of Lake Mariner’s power from New York’s electrical grid. New York’s grid is only 49% carbon-free according to the New York Independent System Operator — powered by a cocktail of nuclear, hydro, wind, oil, gas, and other sources of energy.

2: TeraWulf has a horrible reputation, including skimping on taxes they owe and suing towns they operate in.

Cayuga Operating Company (the company that owns the Cayuga Site and Somerset Mining Facility, and whose president is TeraWulf CEO Paul Prager) did not pay their property tax or Pay in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement payments for their Somerset, NY facility. Court proceedings ended in a settlement that made large reductions in taxes and PILOT payments owed, reduced the assessed value on some properties by 80% (to lower their property taxes), and had all penalties and interest waived.

Bicent, another Paul Prager owned entity, sued the town of Vernon, CA over issues with their power plant in 2019, but lost and was ordered to pay the town $10 million. TeraWulf has already had their lawyers send threatening letters to the Town of Lansing. Given their history of suing and threatening legal action, we can anticipate more litigation abuse from TeraWulf towards our community in the future.

3: AI is replacing working class jobs while stealing our data and intellectual property

AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs globally, a report by Goldman Sachs says. The automation from AI would also increase income inequality we have seen growing in the U.S. since the 1980s. According to an MIT and Boston University report, AI will replace as many as two million manufacturing workers by 2026. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that educated white-collar workers earning up to $80,000 a year are the most likely to be affected by workforce automation.

TeraWulf data centers host computing hardware for companies like Google, as well as Core42, a subsidiary of G42, who has joint venture projects (presight.ai) working with AI policing and digital ID services. Core42 specializes in AI services referred to as “digital sovereignty” which in other countries, such as China and Russia, have led to digital censorship by governments. G42 created an app called ToTok , which, according to an article by the NYT, was used by the UAE government to “track every conversation, movement, relationship, appoitment, sound and image of those who install it.”

Extreme outcomes are being seen linked with AI chat bots, like tragic deaths where disturbing ChatGPT messages are found by survivors. As of April 2025, OpenAI will not currently sign a business associate agreement with HIPAA-regulated entities. According to Dr. Jennifer King, the Privacy and Data Policy Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, AI data is not protected by HIPPA.

In Conclusion

Not only is this technology unsustainable economically and ecologically, but it’s also harmful, biased, and predatory. Together, as a community, we can hold billionaire executives accountable for their irresponsible AI development. We need to protect our economy from collapse and protect our personal privacy from exploitation. Being informed about these big-picture topics related to AI will help strengthen our fight against TeraWulf’s data center plans. Stay informed to protect our community.

We hope this was helpful and informative, especially if your only reason for wanting an AI data center is the tax revenue they have been promising. TeraWulf has shown us who they are in other cities they operate in and that behavior is not welcome here on Cayuga Lake. We deserve to have a say in this development and we will continue to spread the word about how their data centers impact every one of us. Stay tuned for Part 2!