Company’s appeal gains no traction in new hearing
The Pierce County Commission voted 4-0 last Tuesday evening to deny the appeal for a conditional use permit for a bitcoin mining operation at 1199 Cason Road, Blackshear. Third District Commissioner Randy Dixon was not present.
Alma Attorney Kenneth Futch made the appeal to commissioners on behalf of Eric Su of LN8 Energy, the company developing the bitcoin project, and land owner Tony Waters.
Commissioners had originally voted to deny the request for the conditional use permit in February, acting on a recommendation to do so by the Pierce County Planning Commission.
LN8 initially requested an appeal in March, but later asked for a continuance to gather more information.
Futch led LN8’s appeal by conducting a question and answer session with Su.
Su told commissioners at Tuesday’s appeal hearing that when he initially inquired with the county about zoning requirements for the bitcoin operation in October, 2024, he was originally told no rezoning would be required.
“We would not have tried to come here if we had known it was not allowed,” Su said.
Su also continued to insist he was given permission by the county to proceed with the project, only to later be told to stop and go through the planning and zoning department.
County Chairman Neal Bennett rebutted Su’s statement.
“You said you wanted to place some shipping containers on the property. You never said you were developing a bitcoin mining operation there,” Bennett said.
Su said LN8 has spent approximately $875,000 in site preparation and other expenses that it won’t be able to recover if the conditional use permit is not granted and the operation is not allowed to go forward.
Futch also spent time addressing concerns residents expressed during February’s public hearing regarding the proposed bitcoin mining operation.
Futch said the bitcoin operation would provide a financial benefit to the county and would not cause noise or air pollution.
Su explained LN8 estimates it will pay up to $220,000 per year in sales taxes and up to $34,000 per year in ad valorem taxes.
He explained the operation only uses electricity and does not use fossil fuels or pollutants that would contaminate the water or air. He also said the noise generated by the operation would be comparable to the sound of a dishwasher running.
Futch also pointed out Su has applied for U.S. citizenship, in rebuttal to concerns expressed about Su’s nationality at the February hearing.
Futch also called on Waters to testify to similar facts presented by Su. The appeal lasted about 30 minutes. Under the rules for the appeal, there was no public comment allowed from citizens.
Bennett also asked Su if he had been asked to stop work on a similar bitcoin mining operation in Coffee County for not following the planning code there.
Su said he had been told he would have to get a permit in Coffee County and is currently attempting to do so.
At the conclusion of the appeal, First district County commissioner Troy Mattox made the motion to deny the appeal.
“I really haven’t heard anything that changes my mind from February,” he said.
The vote was unanimous.
Efforts to reach Futch after the meeting were unsuccessful.
Su of LN8 Energy originally applied for the conditional use permit in November, 2024.
The proposed Pierce County operation would have storage facilities to house servers and would include a chiller supplied by a well on the property for cooling purposes.
The property is currently zoned as agriculture/ forestry. The conditional use permit would be required to convert the property to the digital mining operation.
A digital mining operation is part of the cryptocurrency industry. Cryptocurrency, including bitcoin, is a unit of money that is totally electronic and not backed up by government or banks. Digital currency uses a process called mining to secure its network and validate transactions.
Pierce County does not have any digital mining facilities currently.
