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Murphy – After the third crypto mining farm is constructed next year, no other such facilities will be allowed to set up shop in Cherokee County.
“There’s basically a [de facto] moratorium on any more of these coming to Cherokee County,” County Manager Randy Wiggins said during the Nov. 1 Board of Commissioners meeting. “It is my understanding that anyone else looking to do this in Cherokee County is going to have to look somewhere else because there is no power capacity for it.”
The de facto moratorium came to light after residents questioned the effect that crypto mining farms have on the power grid. During the discussion, county officials disclosed that Duke Energy and the Tennessee Valley Authority (via Murphy Electric Power Board) provide electricity directly to the crypto mining farms in Marble and on Harshaw Road in Murphy, respectively, so there is no impact on the residential customer base.
However, the power companies reserve a specific amount of electricity as a safety net, hence the imminent de facto moratorium on any additional crypto mining farms being established in the county. The third crypto mining farm is expected to be constructed across from Peddler’s Village on U.S. 64 West in Ranger and will draw power directly from Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corp.
“They don’t build out all the way to the final kilowatt that they can use,” Wiggins said about the power companies. “My understanding is that there should be no impact because they have the capacity to provide and distribute the amount of power that they are distributing. It shouldn’t cause rolling brownouts or blackouts.”
Commissioner Dan Eichenbaum echoed that sentiment.
“There will be adequate power, regardless,” Eichenbaum said. “The data centers are there because they have direct power from the provider.”
The newly constructed crypto mining farm on Harshaw Road has drawn criticism from residents who say the noise produced by cooling fans adversely affects their quality of life. Local residents attended the past two commission meetings to voice complaints.
“I spend every evening outside walking or reading on my porch, and the noise is now so loud that I can hear it through headphones with music playing as well as inside my house with all windows and doors shut,” Phoebe Thompson said last week.
The crypto mining operation on Harshaw Road is owned by Exponential Digital Inc., which is reportedly working to determine the best way to mitigate the noise. In the meantime, county officials are crafting an enforceable noise ordinance that may prevent businesses of any type from disrupting residential areas.
“But it’s limited in what we can actually do,” county attorney Darryl Brown said after explaining that the current noise ordinance is too vague. “Being able to quantify a noise ordinance is extremely difficult. There’s a lot of science that’s involved.”
Brown added that even under an enforceable noise ordinance, the county would only be able to impose a $500 fine on a business that violates the law. Therefore, a better option may be for residents to team up and sue the business if the noise isn’t rectified in a timely manner.
“Through a private nuisance action, a court order can be obtained to cause the landowner to abate the nuisance,” Brown said, adding that residents should seek advice from legal counsel.
County officials also suggested that residents attend public meetings held by each electric company to further understand any impacts on the power grid caused by crypto mining farms.