Hochul administration moves to shut gas powered cryptocurrency plant

ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration on Thursday denied a key permit for a gas powered cryptocurrency mining operation in the Finger Lakes, saying the facility spews too much planet-warming pollution to be allowed under the state’s climate law.

The decision by the state Department of Environmental Conservation on the Greenidge gas plant is the latest step in New York to curb the pollution from cryptocurrency mining facilities that have started to proliferate across upstate New York for the growing industry.

“We are applying a new law to a new operation which had significant increases in emissions — almost tripling emissions,” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos told POLITICO in an interview Thursday. “The company itself was unable to demonstrate that it could come into compliance with the law.”

Hochul faced political pressure to deny the permit, but delayed it until after Tuesday’s gubernatorial primary that she convincingly won. She is also being pushed to sign a measure to put a moratorium on any other new fossil powered cryptocurrency mining projects in New York.

The 106 MW Greenidge gas plant hosts a large-scale Bitcoin mining facility, with about 17,000 miners. The plant has faced aggressive opposition from many local residents, lawmakers and winemakers in the region.

Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc., “,”link”:{“target”:”NEW”,”attributes”:[],”url”:”https://greenidge.com/”,”_id”:”00000181-b7b6-d066-a3bb-bfb714360000″,”_type”:”33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df”},”_id”:”00000181-b7b6-d066-a3bb-bfb714360001″,”_type”:”02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266″}’>Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc., the company running the plant that employs about 50 people, said they plan to appeal the decision and that it will keep operating as usual while the process plays out in a statement Thursday.

“We believe there is no credible legal basis whatsoever for a denial of this application because there is no actual threat to the State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) from our renewed permit,” the company said in a statement.

“This is a standard air permit renewal governing emissions levels for a facility operating in full compliance with its existing permit today. It is not, and cannot be transformed into, a politically charged ‘cryptocurrency permit’.”

Environmental advocates and other opponents of the project argue the increased emissions from the cryptocurrency mining threaten achievement of New York’s sweeping Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The measure requires emissions to be slashed 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030 and 85 percent by 2050.


DEC agreed in a letter explaining the decision to deny a renewal of the plant’s Title V emissions permit. The agency also said the company failed to provide any justification for a reliability or other need for the project given that it would interfere with the state’s climate goals, and that the purpose of the plant had changed significantly since the original permit was issued in 2016 for the plant.

“Any increase in emissions at this point makes it challenging for us to hit our targets which are very ambitious,” Seggos said. “As a slice of total emissions, this is but one …read more

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/30/hochul-administration-moves-to-shut-gas-powered-cryptocurrency-plant-00043497