When Public Citizen pressed TeraWulf to commit to meeting publicly with the community around its Maryland facility, the company said it has no such obligation and declined.

“We’ve got them on record saying FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] rules don’t obligate us to meet in person with the community, so we’re not going to,” said Slocum.

This was the same attitude seen in Somerset, New York. And that difficulty with accountability operates at every level of the data center tech stack.

Legislation

In early June, the New York State Legislature passed the Responsible Data Center Development Act, an omnibus bill addressing data centers’ energy and environmental footprint. It would require a Department of Environmental Conservation environmental impact analysis, set energy efficiency rules, establish prevailing wage labor standards at data center construction sites, mandate a transition to renewables by 2040, and require host communities to receive tangible investments from data center stakeholders—alongside a one-year moratorium on new permits for facilities drawing 20 megawatts or more.

Three months after passage, the bill remains unsigned. In July, Governor Hochul signed a narrower executive order creating her own one-year moratorium on hyperscale data center permits, but she left the legislature’s broader framework untouched. In any event, neither policy reaches Lake Mariner. The executive order pauses new permits for facilities exceeding 50 megawatts, but Lake Mariner’s 500-megawatt buildout was already permitted before the order took effect.

“I think the executive order is a good start and a step in the right direction, but I think the legislation is more comprehensive,” said Assemblyman Patrick Carroll, a Democrat and the bill’s co-sponsor, at a rally in Rockland County urging Hochul to sign it.

In Somerset, two months after the fire, the water supply problems that forced firefighters to shuttle in tank water haven’t been fixed. Construction hasn’t slowed down, either.

“If there’s no hydrant for me,” Matisz said, “that fire is going to burn under their asses.”