MOUNTAIN CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Johnson County Commissioners will consider resolutions Thursday night that could allow the county, which has no zoning, to prohibit or place some regulations on data centers, including Bitcoin mines.
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The potential to opt in to what is known as the County Powers Act. That state law allows counties that don’t have any zoning laws “to exercise certain municipal powers in relation to the regulation of nuisances and other practices detrimental to the inhabitants of the county…”
The move comes less than two weeks after the Mountain City Board of Mayor and Aldermen effectively killed a proposed Bitcoin mine inside the city limits when elected leaders failed to advance a rezoning request. Some residents who opposed the mine have expressed concern that Bitcoin mine company CleanSpark could try to find a location outside the city limits.
Mountain Electric Cooperative CEO Rodney Metcalf told News Channel 11 the utility has had no further discussions with CleanSpark’s leadership since the Mountain City plan was rejected.
County commissioners would have to first adopt the act itself by a two-thirds vote. They would then consider specific uses of the act by the county. The resolution with specific restrictions, as written, would prohibit five types of activities. In addition to cryptocurrency or data center development, they include adult entertainment venues, methadone clinics, new junkyards or recycling centers without specific fencing and screening, and debris dumping or hauling from other counties and states.
The Mountain City deal would have involved Bitcoin mine operator CleanSpark building a 30 megawatt facility and purchasing huge amounts of power from Mountain Electric Co-Op. It first surfaced in the spring and drew significant public opposition, with opponents primarily — but not solely — concerned about the noise they believed would come from units that cool the “mine’s” computers.
Metcalf told News Channel 11 earlier this year that following the closure of manufacturer Parkdale Mills, CleanSpark would have more than backfilled Parkdale’s electricity usage. That, he argued, would have allowed the co-op to keep rates lower for customers.
Thursday, Metcalf said through email that MEC has not had any further discussion with CleanSpark’s leadership team about moving forward since the BMA didn’t pass the rezoning ordinance.
Asked whether MEC was open to working with other data center operators in the future, Metcalf said the Co-Op had “been approached about “expressed interest in exploring options.”
“However, we have not yet identified any that we believe are a good fit for the community,” Metcalf added. “No discussions are taking place with other data centers at the moment.”
The resolutions were drafted by County Attorney Ryan Carroll at the request of County Mayor Larry Potter. Carroll told News Channel 11 he researched the act and got guidance from people at the University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS).
If commissioners vote against opting in to the act, the county would essentially have no ability to prohibit or regulate data centers or any other uses considered in Thursday’s resolution.
News Channel 11 has reached out to Mountain Electric and asked whether the Co-Op plans to continue seeking a partnership with CleanSpark or any other data center operators.
This is a developing story.
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