Plattsburgh Proposes 12-Month Moratorium on High Energy Computing Facilities

Plattsburgh, New York is considering a temporary ban on high energy computing facilities, including cryptocurrency mining and artificial intelligence data centers. The proposed moratorium would apply for 12 months and reflect growing concerns among local officials and residents about electricity demand from these operations.

The rule would block land use approvals for any facility requiring 300 or more kilowatts of power, effectively targeting industrial-scale computing facilities like crypto mining rigs and AI server farms. This move is not new to Plattsburgh; the town has direct experience restricting energy-intensive computing, which led to an 18-month ban on Bitcoin mining in 2018.

The current proposal aims to address rising electricity costs for residents by regulating energy consumption directly rather than the specific computing activity behind it. This shift comes as crypto miners are already pivoting their operations toward AI and high-performance computing amid mounting difficulty in mining itself, rising power costs, and falling token prices.