TORREY, N.Y. — A petition is calling for a moratorium on new AI data centers in the Town of Torrey in Yates County as Greenidge Generation transitions to artificial intelligence operations under a new name, Vulcan Infrastructure and Power.
News10NBC’s Garrett Chan reports the former Greenidge power plant has already transformed once, from a coal-fired plant to cryptocurrency mining. Now, a nonprofit environmental group is pushing for more town oversight as another transformation looms.
“So the transition has already begun,” said Yvonne Taylor, vice president of Seneca Lake Guardian.
“Some estimates are saying that they are already 30% artificial intelligence data center. And they’re just waiting that, you know, they’re in the queue among other, you know, AI companies in New York to get additional power,” Taylor said.
Taylor started a petition urging the Torrey Town Board to consider a moratorium on new development or expansion of AI data centers. She says the governor’s moratorium does not apply to Greenidge because of its permits with the DEC.
“The thing is with the Greenwich or the Vulcan facility is it doesn’t stop at the town of Torrey’s borders,” Taylor said.
“What happens in Torrey will have an impact on the entire region’s electricity bills, our environment, our climate, our thriving agriculture and tourism industry,” she said.
Town Supervisor Peter Martini said a moratorium isn’t necessary right now. The town hasn’t received a formal proposal from Vulcan.
“If things accelerated and we felt like we weren’t adequately prepared, we may be able to do something,” Martini said.
“But if you do a moratorium for one project, you cannot do that legally because it’s just like trying to shut down a single entity as opposed to blocking any of the development,” said Martini.
Taylor said the petition has gotten more than a thousand signatures. She’s planning a community forum on the issue for Oct. 13 in Torrey.
News10NBC reached out to Vulcan Infrastructure and Power for their thoughts on the petition. They have not responded.
Statement from Greenidge Generation
The statement below is from Dale Irwin, the president of Greenidge Generation:
“Permitted emissions, water use, noise and any local considerations are not impacted in any way — we will continue providing critical power to the local electricity grid and meet the terms of our historic emissions reduction agreement with NY State, while powering the data center we’ve operated at the site since 2020. We’re simply pivoting what the data center computers will be used for, from using computing power for cryptocurrency to high-performance computing.”
Seneca Lake power plant in Yates County converting to AI data center, sparks calls for moratorium WHEC.com.
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