Concerned about the potential for cryptocurrency mining and solar farms in Pierce County?
The Pierce County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to receive input on a proposed solar energy ordinance and a proposed cryptocurrency and data mining ordinance next month.
Ads on the hearings are included in this week’s public notices.
The hearings will take place at 8:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 12, at the courthouse annex on Nichols Street.
Cryptocurrency is a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.
Solar farms are operations that use radiant energy (i.e., light) received from the sun, collected by solar panels and converted into electricity.
The planning commission will receive input on both ordinances and will make a recommendation to the county commission. The county commission will have the final say on the ordinances.
The ordinances are a result of the increase in cryptocurrency mining and solar farm operations throughout the area.
Pierce County is currently facing legal action after denying a conditional use request for a proposed bitcoin operation in the Rehobeth Community. The county already has at least two solar farms, including one on Tyre Bridge Road near Patterson and one near the Blackshear Cemetery in Blackshear.
The proposed ordinances seek to regulate both industries by providing guidelines about where such operations can be located. The ordinances also put in place certain requirements about how close they can be to residences, how much noise they can make, how they look and fencing for the properties they are located on.
