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Home My WebLink AboutLAC-PPF 2020-2021 Final ReportReport to Lansing Town Board from LAC-PPF April 8, 2021 The Lansing Advisory Committee on Power Plant Future (LAC-PPF) has been meeting irregularly since February 2020 even though the power plant has not yet officially applied for any changes to the site. Here is a summa- ry of our activities in 2020-2021: Feb. 13, 2020 - ﬁrst official meeting of LAC-PPF at the Town Hall. May 14, 2020 - via Zoom - discussed and approved bylaws, elected offi- cers, compiled questions and areas of interest concerning power plant. June 11, 2020 - via Zoom - compiled committee documents on town OneDrive. Review of SEQRA process. Reviewed updates on POWER Ini- tiative, NYPA renewable energy allocations, Empire State Development grant application, Cayuga Solar LLC. July 9, 2020 - via Zoom - reviewed updates on activities. August 5, 2020 - via Zoom - compiled responses to NYSERDA’s RFI of “Just Transition Initiative” questionnaire. Forwarded questionnaire to C.J. Randall for edits then submission on behalf of the Town. September 10, 2020 - via Zoom - met with representatives from the pro- posed large-scale solar facility at the power plant - Michael Farrell, Senior Manager, sPower; Chris Wentlent, energy consultant; and plant administra- tors, Jerry Goodenough and John Marabella. This was a follow up discus- sion after their presentation the previous evening to the Town Board. September 24, 2020 - via Zoom - committee drafted “Resolution Urging NYSERDA to Support Cayuga Operating Company’s Proposal to Place a Large Solar Installation on the Land of the Former Cayuga Power Plant”. Submitted draft Resolution to Town Board for consideration. Board passed the Resolution at their special meeting with no revisions. March 11, 2021 - via Zoom - Eileen Stout submitted her resignation from the committee. Vacancy has been posted and applications being accepted through the end of March. Committee will review applications and send recommendation to the town board for their approval at their April board meeting. Discussions concerning cryptocurrency operations and Platts- burgh’s experiences. Discussion about how to ﬁnd out who has the liability for mitigation of power plant site, the town’s role in redevelopment versus the federal regulations and role of the CERCLA (Comprehensive Environ- mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also called Superfund). All our minutes will be posted on the town website under “committees”. The following subcommittees formed: -Data Center and cryptocurrency: Bert and Sue -Solar facility: Robb -Coal ash landﬁll: Hilary and Bill -Reports to Town Board & public: Lauren and Sue -Energy storage Next meeting: Thursday, April 8, 2021 at 7:00 pm Updates: 1. Since we helped draft the town’s Resolution in September in support of sPower’s solar project, "Cayuga Solar", sPower did not end up submitting the application to NYSERDA’s RFP because they had not secured enough land control (leases or purchases) for the site. According to sPower and Jerry Goodenough, they plan to submit the site plan at the next NYSERDA solicitation this spring (April). 2. Tompkins County Area Development (now called Ithaca Area Economic Development) announced in October they had won a $404,170 POWER grant to help bring broadband from Ithaca to the power plant. Heorot will match the $404,170 grant. 3. New York State’s ORES (Ofﬁce of Renewable Energy Systems) collect- ed comments on their draft regulations on the siting of large-scale renew- able installations (projects +/-20ish MW, or 120 acres and larger). C.J. Randall submitted the town’s comments in Nov. ORES recently issued re- vised draft regulations. Our committee is reviewing the new regulations in reference to our local solar law and comments will be sent to the town. 4. In November sPower announced they were merging with AES’ clean en- ergy development business in the US. AES had already been a joint part- ner of sPower since 2017. It is expanding their partnership. sPower said this merger will not impact the timeline of their projects in New York. 5. The ownership and plans at the Hardin, Montana power plant changed in December. In a joint venture with Beowulf, Marathon Patent Group an- nounced plans to build a Bitcoin data center at the power plant which will use about 37MW of coal-ﬁred electricity from Beowulf’s 119MW Hardin Generating Station. This site has been mentioned by Jerry as the model for Cayuga’s data center. Publicly Jerry has stated the Cayuga site will not be used for cryptocurrency operations. The committee sent Jerry questions about the change in ownership and how it may affect the plans here in Lansing. We have not received direct responses to those questions. 6. In January some members of our committee attended the webinar “Bit- coin Mining in the Finger Lakes” presented by Colin Read, former mayor of Plattsburgh and current professor of economics and ﬁnance at SUNY Plattsburgh. Colin's talk focused on the town of Plattsburgh’s response to cryptocurrency operations coming to their area. Their challenges included the cryptocurrency companies using such a large percentage of the town's cheap electricity it resulted in increased prices for the community. Noise, environmental concerns and lack of job creation were other issues. The town moved swiftly to address these concerns by ﬁrst passing a moratori- um and then drafting and passing local laws. Mr. Read emphasized the im- portance of getting laws in place sooner rather than later. An important take away was his recommendation for towns to focus on the job creation num- bers presented by these companies rather than the environmental chal- lenges. The actual jobs needed to run a cryptocurrency operation are limit- ed. After his presentation we reached out to him to request copies of the City of Plattsburgh local laws they implemented. Attached are copies of the laws which he provided. Our committee will be gathering additional infor- mation from him and will report back to the town. Submitted by: Sue Ruoff Bert Bland Lauren Chambliss Robb Jetty Bill Klepack Hilary Lambert Derek Osborne ______________ Sent to us by Colin Read, former mayor of Plattsburgh: Plattsburgh’s Local Laws addressing cryptocurrency: You will ﬁnd two steps. The ﬁrst we took was an immedi- ate moratorium on any new applications until we could promulgate new rules. J. Moratorium on commercial cryptocurrency mining opera- tions. [Added 3-15-2018 by L.L. No. 3-2018] (1) Enactment and title. The Common Council of the City of Plattsburgh does hereby ordain and enact the City of Plattsburgh moratorium on commercial cryptocurrency mining operations in the City of Plattsburgh. This subsec- tion shall impose a moratorium on applications or proceed- ings, or the issuance of approvals or permits, for commer- cial cryptocurrency mining operations in the City of Platts- burgh. (2) Authorization, purpose and deﬁnitions. (a) Authorization. [1] Pursuant to the authority and provisions of § 10 of the Mu- nicipal Home Rule Law of the State of New York and the statutory powers vested in the Common Council of the City of Plattsburgh to regulate and control land use and to protect the health, safety and welfare of its residents, the Common Council of the City of Plattsburgh hereby de- clares an 18-month moratorium on all applications, or pro- ceedings for applications, for the issuance of approvals or permits for the commercial cryptocurrency mining opera- tions in the City of Plattsburgh. [2] This moratorium will allow time for the Zoning Code and Municipal Lighting Department regulations to be amended to regulate this potential use. (b) Purpose. [1] It is the purpose of this subsection to allow the City of Plattsburgh the opportunity to consider zoning and land use laws and Municipal Lighting Department regulations before commercial cryptocurrency mining operations re- sults in irreversible change to the character and direction of the City. [2] Further, it is the purpose of this subsection to allow the City of Plattsburgh time to address, through planning and legislation, the promotion of the protection, order, conduct, safety, health and well-being of the residents of the City which are presented as heightened risks associated with commercial cryptocurrency mining operations. [3] It is the purpose of this subsection to facilitate the adoption of land use and zoning and/or Municipal Lighting Depart- ment regulations to protect and enhance the City's natural, historic, cultural and electrical resources. (c) Deﬁnitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated: COMMERCIAL CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING The commercial process by which cryptocurrency transac- tions are veriﬁed and added to the public ledger, known as the "block chain," and also the means through which new units of cryptocurrencies are released, through the use of server farms employing data processing equipment. For purposes of this deﬁnition, any equipment which requires a high-density load service, or any server farm, will pre- sumably be a commercial cryptocurrency mining opera- tion. CRYPTOCURRENCY A digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank. HIGH-DENSITY LOAD SERVICE The provision of electrical service where the requested load density, in the portion of the premises containing the load consuming equipment, exceeds 250 kWh/ft2/year. SERVER FARM Three or more interconnected computers housed together in a single facility whose primary function is to perform cryptocurrency mining or associated data processing. (3) Scope of controls. During the effective period of this sub- section: (a) The Code Enforcement Ofﬁcer, Building Inspector, Plan- ning Board, or Zoning Board of Appeals shall not accept an application for a commercial cryptocurrency mining op- eration. (b) The Code Enforcement Ofﬁcer, Building Inspector, Plan- ning Board, or Zoning Board of Appeals shall not grant any permit for a commercial cryptocurrency mining operation. (4) No consideration of new applications. No applications for commercial cryptocurrency mining operations or for ap- provals for a site plan, special use permit, building permit, or any other permit shall be approved by any board, ofﬁ- cer, employee or agent of the City of Plattsburgh while the moratorium imposed by this subsection is in effect. Noth- ing in this subsection shall be construed such as to result in any default approval for any application heard or con- sidered during the moratorium imposed by this subsection. This moratorium shall apply to all such applications, whether pending or received prior to the effective date of this law. (5) Term. The moratorium imposed by this subsection shall be in effect for a period of 18 months from the effective date of this subsection. It may be terminated earlier if the Common Council determines by resolution that the pur- pose of the local law has been fulﬁlled. During the period of the moratorium, the Common Council shall endeavor to amend the local Zoning Code and/or Municipal Lighting Department regulations to address and regulate commer- cial cryptocurrency mining operations. (6) Location. The moratorium imposed by this subsection shall apply to the territorial limits of the City of Plattsburgh. (7) Penalties. Any ﬁrm, person, corporation, or other entity that shall establish, place, construct, erect or in any way site or locate a commercial cryptocurrency mining opera- tion described in this subsection in the City of Plattsburgh in violation of the provisions of this subsection shall be subject to, in addition to any penalties prescribed by state or local law, a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 for each day or part thereof during which such violation con- tinues. If necessary to remove any construction or proper- ty that may have taken place in violation of this subsec- tion, then the cost of such removal, including reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the City, shall constitute a lien and charge against any real property owned or leased by the violator located within the City and shall be collected in the same manner and at the same time as other City charges. The civil penalties provided for by this subsection shall be recoverable in an action instituted in the name of the City in any court of competent jurisdiction. (8) Validity. The invalidity of any provision of this subsection shall not affect the validity of any other provision of this subsection that can be given effect without such invalid provision. Then, the new rules: Cryptocurrency mining operations. [Added 10-25-2018 by L.L. No. 6-2018] (1) Deﬁnitions. COMMERCIAL CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING The commercial process by which crytocurrency transac- tions are veriﬁed and added to the public ledger, known as the block chain, and also the means through which new units of cryptocurrencies are released, through the use of server farms employing data processing equipment. For purposes of this section, any equipment which requires a high-density load service, or any server farm, will consti- tute a commercial cryptocurrency mining operation. CRYPTOCURRENCY A digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank. HIGH-DENSITY LOAD SERVICE The provision of electrical service where the requested load density has, for any monthly billing period, either an average power demand in excess of 300 kilowatts, or an average power density in excess of 250 kilowatt- hours per year per square foot, equivalent to 35.064 square feet per kilowatt, at 100% load factor. "Square footage" is de- ﬁned as leased or owned boundaries of ﬂoor space devot- ed to the operating data processing equipment, and ex- cludes space for ofﬁces, storage, shipping and receiving, or any other space that is not electronic processing. SERVER FARM Three or more interconnected computers housed together in a single facility whose primary function is to perform cryptocurrency mining or associated data processing. (2) Firesafety. (a) Fire suppression. An active clean agent ﬁre protection sys- tem must be provided and maintained in good working or- der within any structure which contains a commercial cryp- tocurrency mining operation. High-sensitivity smoke detec- tors shall be installed and operational in order to activate this clean agent ﬁre suppression system. (b) There shall be an emergency electricity termination switch installed outside of any containment structure which con- tains a commercial cryptocurrency mining operation. (c) Containment space. The equipment used in any commer- cial cryptocurrency mining operation shall be housed in an individually metered, electrically grounded and metal-en- cased structure with a ﬁre rating designed to resist an in- ternal electrical ﬁre for at least 30 minutes. The contain- ment space shall contain bafﬂes that will automatically close in the event of ﬁre independent of a possible electric system failure. (d) All building requirements required by this section, includ- ing, but not limited to, heat transfer apparatuses, ﬁre de- tection/suppression systems, or containment structures shall be designed by a New York State licensed engineer and in accordance with all applicable codes and stan- dards. (3) Heat. (a) The ambient temperature inside of a containment space which houses a commercial cryptocurrency mining opera- tion shall not exceed 120° F. at any time. No person shall be permitted to regularly inspect and work within the con- tainment area which houses a commercial cryptocurrency mining operation if the ambient temperature within the containment area exceeds 90° F. (b) Any commercial cryptocurrency mining operation shall en- sure that no more than 20% of the heat dissipated by the mining activity shall be released directly to the outside when the average daily temperature is less than 40° F. (4) Nuisance abatement. (a) No commercial cryptocurrency mining operation may cause adverse or detrimental effects to adjoining lessees, owners, or residents that diminish the quality of life or in- crease the costs of serving their business or maintaining their homes. (b) No commercial cryptocurrency mining operation shall pro- duce a noise level exceeding 90 dB from a distance of 25 feet from the exterior of the containment structure. (5) Special use permit. A special use permit, pursuant to this chapter of the City Code, is required for any new commer- cial cryptocurrency mining operation, and any expansion of any pre-existing commercial cryptocurrency mining op- eration, in order to ensure conformance with this section. (6) Effective date; applicability. (a) This subsection shall take effect immediately upon ﬁling in the ofﬁce of the New York State Secretary of State. (b) This subsection shall apply to all building permit or zoning applications pending at the time it becomes effective, un- less the reviewing Council or Board shall determine that its application would be impracticable or unjust in the particu- lar circumstances.