But the Republican candidate for mayor, Council President Robert E. Pecoraro, said he supports the project and would oppose the moratorium, based on what is now known about the proposal.
Tylec intends to seek a vote Tuesday on calling a public hearing on a moratorium that would at least delay a project he believes is unpopular.
"I've only heard things against it, so I think we have to act on the residents' behalf," Tylec said at this week's Council workshop. He said he has heard concerns from 20 or 30 residents and some surrounding businesses.
"I've heard a lot of people tell me, 'Bring it on,' " Pecoraro replied. He said the city could cash in big on selling water to cool the natural gas-burning power plant's turbines.
"We're estimating between $600,000 to $1 million annually," Pecoraro said. Also, the company has said it would create 20 full-time jobs.
Digihost, a Canadian cryptocurrency company that currently operates in Buffalo's former American Axle plant, has an agreement to buy the Fortistar natural gas burning power plant on Erie Avenue for $3.5 million plus some Digihost stock.
If the sale is approved by the state Public Service Commission, Digihost plans to fire up the plant to full capacity to power a massive array of supercomputers it intends to stack in shipping containers on the plant's front lawn.
A rendering submitted to the Niagara County Planning Board showed space for 29 concrete pads. Each would hold three shipping containers, totaling 24 feet in height.
Every container would be stuffed with the computers needed for "proof-of-work authentication" — the complex mathematical calculations required to prove the legitimacy of transactions for investments in the highly speculative digital currency.
Many environmental groups oppose the whole "blockchain" concept, saying the computer arrays require unprecedented amounts of electricity.
Sometimes, that electricity could come from power plants that burn fossil fuels — exactly the type of activity climate change activists want to prevent.
"The magnitude of computer processing output required to authenticate a single block of a blockchain with a proof-of-work method uses as much energy as an average American household uses in a month," a State Senate bill to temporarily ban the practice asserted. "The annual global energy use for proof-of-work authentication is equivalent to that of the country of Sweden and exceeds the energy consumption of all the global activity of major tech companies like Amazon, Google and Facebook combined."
The Senate passed that bill June 8, calling it a moratorium until the Department of Environmental Conservation explores the issue. The Assembly hasn't acted.
"We must determine whether growth of the proof-of-work authentication industry is incompatible with our greenhouse gas emission targets established in law, or has other significant detrimental impacts to our air, water, or public health," said a memo filed with the bill.
Rather than pay huge utility bills, Digihost decided it would be more economical to buy its own power plant.
"We commend the forward-thinking officials who have supported this project and are willing to keep an open dialogue with local officials who have questions or concerns about this new and emerging industry," a Digihost statement said.
Tylec and Pecoraro said Fortistar's power plant has been operating recently at about 10% of capacity. Some work already has begun at the Erie Avenue site, including digging trenches for wiring, Tylec said at Tuesday's Council workshop.
Tylec wants to hold the mandatory public hearing Aug. 31 so the Council can act on a moratorium before the city Planning Commission votes Sept. 8 on allowing the concrete pads for the shipping containers.
"There's a lot of unknowns on what these computers will do and what kind of impact it would have on the surrounding area," Tylec said.
"He has no reason for putting a moratorium on this type of industry," Pecoraro said. "He can't put out a moratorium on something he doesn't understand without digging for more information to try to understand it."
"I don't think the public understands all the facts," Tylec said. "I think we have to slow everything down because they're just jamming it in here."
Digihost pledged Thursday to use "sustainably sourced renewable natural gas — derived from natural waste — with net neutral emissions as soon as our operation gets underway."
© 2021 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
