Genuine question: if PoW is supposed to reward energy expenditure, why does newer hardware earn more per watt? Isn't it actually rewarding fab node access at that point?

On another note Wattcoin blockchain and Wattcoin miner app are mainnet and fully functional!

See for yourself! wattcoin.ee

PS: you can use discarded ASICs to mine Wattcoin. Every hardware pays 20kWh per WTC!
The more your hardware uses energy the faster you mine WTC!