Plattsburgh, New York, Considers Temporary Ban on Crypto Mining and AI Data Centers

ChainCatcher report: A public hearing was held in the town of Plattsburgh, New York, to discuss a temporary moratorium on land use for “high-energy computing facilities,” including cryptocurrency mining and AI data centers. If approved, the proposal would halt the approval of applications for operations consuming 300 kilowatts or more for a period of 12 months. As of Tuesday, the mayor had not yet approved the moratorium, and the city council plans to reconvene on September 17. Plattsburgh was among the first regions in the U.S. to impose a ban on Bitcoin mining, having enacted an 18-month moratorium in 2018 due to residents’ concerns over rising electricity costs. Today, as mining difficulty increases, electricity costs rise, and token prices fall, many cryptocurrency mining companies have shifted toward AI and high-performance computing, prompting local authorities to reconsider restrictions on high-energy facilities.