Lansing’s board quietly dropped a proposed development moratorium, clearing the way for TeraWulf’s large data center on the former Milliken coal plant site to move ahead toward a 2026 build.
The facility is positioned as an AI and online services data center, meaning significant GPU and server density, and likely substantial power and cooling demand.
Local opposition centers on classic AI infra friction points: grid load, potential higher energy prices, lake water use for cooling, noise, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Residents are pushing for binding conditions on clean energy sourcing, non-lake cooling, and noise controls, which would materially affect TeraWulf’s power and thermal design.
Supporters emphasize jobs and tax revenue, while some accuse town leaders of both lack of transparency and of letting misinformation shape the debate.
TeraWulf has already threatened legal action over alleged open meeting law violations, signaling this project is politically sensitive and could set precedents for local controls on AI data centers.
The article is worth a read for anyone tracking how community pushback is starting to shape siting and operational constraints for GPU-heavy data centers.
