Court Sides with Greenidge, Invalidating DEC’s Denial of Bitcoin Mining Permit

Greenidge Generation’s Bitcoin mining facility in New York will remain operational after a court ruled in favor of their motion to overturn a previous decision by a New York state environmental agency.

On Thursday, New York Supreme Court Judge Vincent Dinolfo rejected the action by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to deny Greenidge’s application to renew a Title V Air Permit.

In his ruling, Judge Dinolfo stated that the DEC had the authority to deny Greenidge’s Renewal Application, but “in utilizing that authority in its Final Denial, acted in a manner that was both affected by errors of law and arbitrary and capricious.”

Greenidge said in a release on Thursday that “The Climate Act is a well-intended law, but it does not grant DEC political appointees and bureaucrats the authority to rewrite a statute and independently determine the value of working-class New Yorkers’ jobs.”

Previously, Greenidge had anticipated a decision from the New York Supreme Court by November 15 regarding whether the DEC had violated administrative procedures when it denied their permit renewal application.

As of the third quarter, Greenidge manages approximately 3.1 EH/s of hashrate capacity, including 1.3 EH/s of proprietary hashrate and 1.8 EH/s from hosted miners. Their facility in Dresden, New York, supplies the majority of power capacity for the hashrate under their management.