Plattsburgh Holds Hearing on Temporary Moratorium for Crypto Mining and AI Data Centers

The town of Plattsburgh in New York state held a public hearing on a proposed temporary land use moratorium covering operations such as AI data centers and crypto mining. In a Thursday hearing, Plattsburgh Mayor Wendell Hughes and the common council heard from members of the public about a law that would impose a short-term ban on land use tied to certain high energy computing facilities, including cryptocurrency mining and artificial intelligence. If approved, the moratorium would halt approvals for operations requiring 300 or more kilowatts (kW) for 12 months. As of Tuesday, reports indicated that the mayor had not approved the moratorium, and the council is scheduled to hold another meeting on Sept. 17. According to Cointelegraph, Plattsburgh was one of the first jurisdictions in the United States to outright ban Bitcoin (BTC) mining in response to residents’ concerns about electricity costs, with that moratorium passed in 2018 and lasting 18 months. The report also noted that many crypto mining companies have shifted toward AI and high-performance computing amid difficulty, rising power costs and falling token prices.