TeraWulf Shares Drop 7% After New York Pauses New Data Center Permits

Shares of TeraWulf fell 7% Tuesday after New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order pausing new state environmental permits for large scale data centers for up to a year.

Moratorium Aims to Build Regulatory Framework

Under the order, the state’s Department of Public Service will spend the pause period developing a regulatory framework, called a Generic Environmental Impact Statement, to set standards for data centers covering energy demand, water use and air quality. The moratorium lifts once the framework is finalized. Hochul is also pursuing separate legislation to end sales tax exemptions for large data centers statewide. TeraWulf’s Nasdaq shares closed down 7.08% at $19.41 following the announcement.

Company Says Existing Projects Unaffected

TeraWulf, which operates the Lake Mariner campus in New York and is developing a second site at Lake Hawkeye, said the order doesn’t change its plans. Chief Strategy Officer Kerri Langlais said Lake Hawkeye’s multi-year development and local review process remain on track, while Lake Mariner is already operational and its expansion supporting Fluidstack and Google is fully permitted. CEO Paul Prager said the company welcomes clearer regulation and is exploring on-site power generation for Lake Hawkeye.

Broader Shift Toward AI and HPC

TeraWulf continues pivoting from bitcoin mining toward AI and high performance computing. The company recently signed a 20-year lease with Anthropic at its Kentucky site, expected to generate about $19 billion in revenue over its term. In the first quarter, TeraWulf’s HPC lease revenue surpassed its bitcoin mining revenue for the first time, reaching $21 million out of $34 million in total revenue.