North Tonawanda Bans Bitcoin Mining Expansion for Two Years

North Tonawanda, a city in Niagara County, New York, has approved a two-year moratorium on new data center operations and the expansion of existing facilities, including but not limited to bitcoin mining.

The city’s Common Council unanimously approved the two-year ban on Tuesday evening, bringing relief to residents who have long been advocating for the ban due to noise complaints.

While the noise complaints have primarily been directed at the bitcoin mining firm Digihost’s facility in the neighborhood, the city’s moratorium extends beyond bitcoin mining.

According to the resolution passed on Tuesday, the definition of new and existing “data centers” encompasses “facilities housing multiple banks of computers within a building, modular facilities containing processors in multiple storage-like containers, server clusters … and other operations related to cryptocurrency mining, blockchain authenticating, Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) processing, general data computing, processing and storage, and other large-scale electronic-based centers of the like.”

The Buffalo News reported that residents had filed noise complaints with the Common Council before Digihost began operations in February 2022. However, the city did not take action until earlier this year, following residents’ proposal for a moratorium.

To assess whether Digihost’s facility was violating the city’s noise ordinance, the city hired an external expert to conduct noise monitoring. Digihost agreed to cover the associated cost of up to $30,000. However, the city’s current noise ordinance aims to prevent “unreasonable noise,” a term that can be “subjective” in its interpretation, according to the local news report.