A significant portion of Greenidge’s electricity no longer powers nearby homes or businesses; rather, the plant’s smokestacks are increasingly pouring pollutants into the atmosphere in the service of mining bitcoin.
By the end of this year, it plans to have 18,000 specialized machines mining bitcoin, and with the recent approval of its data center expansion plans, it will add 10,500 more.
“No direct competitor currently owns and operates its own power plant for the purpose of bitcoin mining,” the company wrote in its recent S-4 filing with the SEC.
The additional four data center buildings would provide 12 long-term jobs, but the mining operations would significantly contribute to air pollution in the area and discharge hot water into a nearby trout stream that empties into Seneca Lake.
Environmental groups are concerned about the plant’s footprint.
But then Atlas Holdings bought the plant in 2014 and spent $65 million to convert it to natural gas and get it running again.
The plant’s shift to bitcoin-only operation comes at a time when New York state is fighting to keep cryptocurrency miners from taking advantage of the state’s cheap power.
Between February 2020 and February 2021, the company mined nearly 1,186 bitcoin at a cost of $2,869 per bitcoin.
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