The controversy over a conditional use permit for a proposed bitcoin mining operation is headed for court.
LN8 Energy,LLC, filed an appeal against Pierce County and the Pierce County Board of Commissioners in Pierce County Superior Court last week.
Alma attorney Kenneth Futch filed the appeal on behalf of LN8 Energy LLC and Yizhou Su.
Efforts to reach Futch were not successful. County Attorney Adam Craft declined comment.
The appeal to the courts is just the latest in a long-running saga over the proposed bitcoin mine.
The Pierce County Commission voted 4-0 at their July meeting to deny LN8’s appeal to that board for a conditional use permit for a bitcoin mining operation at 1199 Cason Road, Blackshear.
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 before the county commission in March, but later asked for a continuance to gather more information.
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.
Near unanimous public opposition to the conditional use permit led both the planning commission and the county commission to deny issuance of the permit.
At the appeal before the county commssion, Futch conducted a question and answer session with Su attempting to address residents’ concerns, while also saying Su was given permission by the county to proceed with the project before the permit was issued.
Su said 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.
Su insisted 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 officials contend Su never said he was developing a bitcoin mining operation.
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.
Su 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.
Su has applied for U.S. citizenship, in rebuttal to concerns expressed about Su’s nationality at the February hearing.
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.
