The town of Plattsburgh in New York is currently reviewing a proposal to implement a temporary moratorium on land use for high-energy computing facilities. The potential ban targets operations that require 300 or more kilowatts of power, specifically covering artificial intelligence data centers and cryptocurrency mining activities.
Mayor Wendell Hughes and the local common council conducted a public hearing on Thursday to gather community feedback regarding the proposed law. As of Tuesday, the mayor had not yet granted approval for the measure. The council plans to reconvene on September 17 to continue discussions on the matter.
Plattsburgh previously established a precedent for such regulations in 2018, when it became one of the first US jurisdictions to enact an 18-month ban on Bitcoin mining. That decision followed local concerns regarding rising electricity costs. Many mining firms have since shifted their focus toward AI and high-performance computing.
