Location: Dresden, NY in the Town of Torrey
Background:
Greenidge is an old coal power plant with an already bad environmental history. Once mothballed, it was converted to a gas fired plant for use as a “peaker plant”- toonlybe used when excess energy was needed by the public, and not run continually. Now, its out of state owners at Atlas Holdings want to expand operations by proposing an increase of 700% from historical use for a privately owned bitcoin operation which would consume enough power to fuel 93,000 homes. That’s bigger than 2 of Amazon’s immense data centers; all so 2 Private Equity guys in Connecticut can generate 5 bitcoins per day. Greenidge is using a 67-year old steam turbine that operates at 35% efficiency and should have been retired decades ago (by comparison modern turbines operate at 65% efficiency).
Negative Impacts of this expansion include:
– Increased Harmful Algal Blooms on Seneca Lake
– Harm to aquatic life in the lake
– Increased noise that travels throughout county and across the lake
– Negative impact on tourism and the overall economy of the Finger Lakes
– Reduced property values in Yates County and beyond
– Reduced tax base in Yates County, negatively impacting county services including fire, police, schools
– Increased greenhouse gas emissions, with no regulation, in the midst of climate crisis
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
– OUR ENVIRONMENT: the amount of energy required for this expansion is enough to power 93,000 homes using an antiquated, inefficient gas-generated facility that will emit thousands of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year.
– OUR LAKE: hot water will get discharged into a trout stream that leads directly into Seneca Lake. Not only will this kill the fish, but the hot water will increase the incidences of HABs.
– OUR ECONOMY: We here in the FLX rely on our agri-tourism industry. Even in a pandemic, we were able to thrive by offering a safe haven where our wineries, farm to table restaurants, and lodgings creatively continued to thrive. This facility threatens our driving economic engine with its industrialization.
– OUR PEACEFUL WAY OF LIFE: the extreme noise generated from this facility will carry across still waters, disturbing residents, visitors, and wildlife.
Dirty, inefficient fracked –gas power plants for private Bitcoin Mining are TOTALLY INCOMPATIBLE with the Finger Lakes’ driving economic engine where travel and tourism is poised to play an even greater role in the regional Finger Lakes economy. Jobs
in this sector are expected to outpace the region’s overall rate of job growth (+7.0%) between 2012 and 2022.
Conversely, very few jobs will be created by Greenidge’s expansion, since it consists of adding new, fully automated Bitcoin mining computers. Burning more fossil fuels at this inefficient old plant will emit more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in the midst of a global climate crisis. The FLX has already experienced more frequent and severe storms and flooding due to climate
change. This plan contradicts everything Governor Cuomo’s State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act conveys.
Don’t stain this legacy by allowing this facility to expand.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
CALL GOVERNOR CUOMO AT
518-474-8390 Urge him to deny and revoke permits for Greenidge’s gas-powered Bitcoin facility on Seneca Lake.