Data centers in Cayuga County, New York: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

No data center has been proposed inside Cayuga County, but a project just across its border in the town of Lansing, Tompkins County, has pushed several county towns to pass their own moratoriums. TeraWulf wants to build an AI data center at the former Cayuga coal plant on Cayuga Lake's east shore, starting at 50 megawatts of power in 2026 and growing to as much as 400 megawatts by 2029. It has promised about 100 jobs and closed-loop cooling that uses only a few gallons of water a day, though its 2025 press release had listed an "industrial-scale water intake system" among the site's assets.

Towns responded fast. The Town of Victory adopted an 18-month moratorium; Mentz and Scipio have sent one-year moratoriums to the county's law committee for review, wider than the state's pause because they would cover data centers of any size. Mentz Supervisor Mark Emerson pointed to the Seneca River, which flows into Cayuga Lake through his town: "So we don't want the pollution on our northern border," he said, adding "our electricity bills would be out of this world." Scipio Supervisor Gary Mutchler wrote that the moratorium protects "our beautiful Finger Lakes region without major commercial industry."

The City of Auburn went further. On July 9, 2026, its council voted unanimously to urge Governor Kathy Hochul to sign the statewide one-year data center moratorium the Legislature had passed, and on August 6 it adopted its own 12-month local moratorium, 5-0, while it rewrites its land-use rules. Planning director Stephen Selvek said the local rule fills a gap because the state's plan targets only facilities of 50 megawatts or more. Councilor Christina Calarco pointed to Owasco Lake, the city's drinking water source: "Our lakes are our most valuable asset," she said. Mentz and Scipio's boards are expected to act on their own moratoriums once the county's law committee finishes its review.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.