The Greene County supervisors at their Nov. 10 meeting took the first step toward allowing the placement of a digital mining and data center in the county. The supervisors first heard of the proposed project a week ago.
Adam Haynes, founder of Simple Mining LLC, based in Cedar Falls, attended the meeting along with David Speed and Ryan Henn of Midland Power. They were introduced by Greene County Development Corporation director Greg Picklapp.
According to Haynes, Simple Mining has a dozen facilities statewide, including one that is very close to downtown Cedar Falls. There have been no complaints about that facility. “It’s not going to be a massive constant noise issue that people have voiced concerns about,” Haynes said.
Simple Mining has is in discussion with a willing landowner about purchasing 15 acres between Jefferson and Scranton for the facility. The nearest home is 3,300 feet from the proposed facility.
The units are modular – about the size of a shipping container – and as such they aren’t subject to property tax. However, Simple Mining will make a payment to the county in lieu of property taxes. The total investment in Greene County would be approximately $10 million, Haynes said.
There would be 8-10 fulltime employees at an average hourly rate of $20 with full benefits. He hopes to hire people who live within 30 minutes of the facility. Simple Mining will do in-house training. The ideal job candidates will have electrical or data skills.
The facility will not have significant water usage, as it will be cooled by an electric fan system.
Henn, director of communications and energy services at Midland Power, said Midland has collaborated with Simple Mining and has no concerns about reliability.
Picklapp said the facility would not use enough electricity to impact any current or future economic development projects.
Haynes hopes to have the facility online next spring. At the suggestion of county attorney Thomas Laehn, the supervisors directed him to begin drafting an amendment to the county zoning ordinance to provide the procedures for obtaining a conditional use permit for the construction of digital mining facilities and data centers. Laehn said the current zoning ordinances provide no guidelines for such facilities, “and that creates uncertainty for Simple Mining, for Midland, for us. Any time there’s uncertainty, we’re exposed to liability. My goal is to eliminate uncertainty,” he said.
