FLX to Gov. Hochul: Stop Letting Climate-Killing Crypto Plant Off the Hook

ALBANY, NY (08/11/2025) (readMedia)-- This morning, Seneca Lake Guardian, the Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes, Fossil Free Tompkins, and the Sierra Club filed a motion to expedite Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hearings in Greenidge Generation's ongoing battle for an air permit renewal to continue its gas-fired cryptomining operation on the shores of Seneca Lake. The motion comes days after Greenidge was granted another last-minute adjournment of the August 5-7 hearings, a decision that the impacted groups are seeking to appeal. There have now been three adjournments alone this summer, delaying proceedings that were initially scheduled in February and were set to begin in June. This is part of Greenidge's long-term strategy to drag out court proceedings for years on end, taking advantage of state law that allows it to operate throughout the legal process. By running its gas-fired power plant 24/7/365 to mine Bitcoin, Greenidge is saddling the Finger Lakes community with constant noise, air, and water pollution, and moving the state further away from meeting its climate mandates - all while operating on a denied air permit.

The impacted communities are urging the administrative court to conclude the evidentiary hearings by the end of this year, and for the Governor to uphold the state's climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).

"Greenidge's abuse of the climate law and its efforts to take advantage of the ways the state is now signaling it will abandon its climate commitments to prioritize huge corporate interests over the public good should alarm everyone," said Yvonne Taylor, vice president of Seneca Lake Guardian. "Greenidige continues to delay, delay, delay and keep killing our climate in the meantime, and now the Governor is enabling Greenidge's obvious, disgusting tactics. In 2024, Greenidge emitted 417,543 tons of CO2 equivalents directly into our atmosphere to make fake money and help a few rich people get even richer. This latest adjournment of hearings is just another slap in the face, and we will continue to fight back until Greenidge shuts down for good."

"By granting Greenidge's repeated requests for delays, Governor Hochul is delaying accountability, and allowing massive amounts of greenhouse gases and local air pollution, even as we have been choking on smoke from Canadian wildfires," said Irene Weiser of Fossil Free Tompkins. "Along with other cryptomining operations in the state, the Governor is not only harming communities and the climate, she is also driving up energy costs for everyone else. Why is the Governor denying enforcement of the DEC's decision to uphold the climate law and protect New Yorkers? We urge the judge to grant our motion to expedite these hearings for our communities and all New Yorkers."

As of now, the case is back in front of the DEC administrative court, remanded from a Yates County Supreme Court ruling in November in Greenidge's appeal following three separate administrative court rulings upholding the DEC's denial of Greenidge's air permit renewal request. The DEC found that pollution from the power plant was not compliant with the CLCPA. In the November ruling, the Supreme Court judge affirmed that the DEC can deny air permits to operations like Greenidge's under the CLCPA. The Court also found that as a matter of law, Greenidge's operations were inconsistent with the CLCPA given that emissions from the power plant have skyrocketed since Greenidge received its initial air permit in 2016.

Nonetheless, the Supreme Court judge generously gave Greenidge another opportunity to present evidence on whether its continued operation can be justified. Since then, Greenidge has made multiple attempts to halt or delay the new round of DEC administrative hearings:

• After Greenidge's emergency requests to stay the hearings were denied, the hearing dates were scheduled for June 10-11 and June 24, and August 5-7 if needed.
• Greenidge sought an adjournment of the June 10-11 hearings due to scheduling conflicts with their attorney. The adjournment was granted, moving the start date to June 24.
• Greenidge requested to submit supplemental testimony before the June 24 hearing dates. The request was granted.
• DEC requested an adjournment of the June 24 hearings. The request was granted.
• Greenidge requested an adjournment of the August 5-7 hearings. The adjournment was granted.

The bases for the most recent adjournments have been Greenidge's spurious arguments that the New York Independent System Operator's (NYISO) Power Trends report and draft State Energy Plan signal that New York needs more fossil fuel generation - claims not supported by NYISO's own analysis. The report and draft plan do not concern any one power generation source in the state, let alone the Greenidge gas plant that predominantly serves its own on-site mining operation.

In July, Earthjustice, joined by WE ACT for Environmental Justice, the Environmental Defense Fund, and Evergreen Action, sent a letter to the Governor's office and other state agencies asking them to ignore misleading calls for more fossil fuel generation and stay the course on New York's clean energy mandates instead of pursuing an energy unaffordability agenda. There's ample evidence to show that more fossil fuel generation to serve large-loads like cryptomines raises utility rates for everyday ratepayers, as well as strong evidence that renewable energy paired with storage is significantly cheaper and less-polluting for host communities. The letter urged state agencies to prioritize the 50,000 megawatts of mostly renewable energy currently stuck in limbo - projects that could be built faster and cheaper than new gas plants if given a fair shot - as well as other levers to unlock affordable climate law-compliant energy sources.

This latest delay in administrative court proceedings in the Greenidge case comes as the DEC is evaluating statewide environmental impacts of cryptomining in a draft Environmental Impact Statement that is currently open for public input. While New Yorkers wait for the final environmental impact statement, Finger Lakes residents are suffering from Greenidge's air, water, and noise pollution, and Greenidge is continuing to emit huge amounts of climate-killing greenhouse gasses. Before cryptomining began on site at scale in 2019, the gas plant operated 48 days out of the year, generating 39,406 tons of CO2. In 2024, it operated 358 days, emitting 417,543 tons of CO2 - a 960% increase since 2019.

"The Finger Lakes communities surrounding the Greenidge Generation cryptomining operation have had enough of the corporation's nonstop abuse. Impacted community members have been sounding the alarm on the disastrous impacts of the Greenidge cryptomine on their water, air, and climate. The persistent 24/7 noise pollution from the site continues to harm nearby residents' health, and they're completely fed up. These new administrative hearing delays are absolutely outrageous and unacceptable. We need the hearings completed by the end of this year, and we need the Governor to uphold the climate law instead of throwing our communities under the bus. We are prepared to continue advocating and we will prevail," said Abi Buddington of the Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes.

"Greenidge couldn't care less about the health of Seneca Lake and the people who live around it, and will continue to poison the region with its emissions - just to mine Bitcoin for wealthy speculators," said Roger Downs, conservation director of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. "Greenidge Generation continues to operate, profit, and pollute while it exploits the state's long legal processes. True justice will only come when the plant shuts down for good."