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County hears public testimony on Riverland Energy rezone and Anovary bitcoin-mining proposal
Summary
At an April 2 public hearing, Buffalo County staff introduced a request to rezone parcels to allow industrial uses for Riverland Energy; Anovary and Riverland representatives described a plan to install bitcoin-mining 'stations' using cooperative power and said Riverland made no direct investment in the stations.
Cale Severson, Buffalo County Land Management Director, opened the public hearing April 2 to consider a Riverland Energy application to rezone parcels currently zoned ARN-40 or ANR-20 to permit industrial uses tied to proposed bitcoin-mining infrastructure.
Don Ritter, identified in the record as an advisor and shareholder for Anovary, testified that Anovary would take excess cooperative power for the stations. Ritter said the company was “one of the 5,000 members of the cooperative and ... using 44 mega watts of available power.” Tim Holtan, CEO of Riverland, told the committee Riverland “had zero investment from Riverland into the stations” and described Riverland’s intention to partner with the county while upgrades and investments were made by Anovary.
Committee member Gary Stanton asked whether the stations would be secured against severe weather; Karina Obrien answered that the project team was performing wind-force checks to determine whether and what type of fastening would be required. The minutes also record correspondence from the towns: Nelson and Lincoln filed 'no comment' forms and Mondovi submitted a letter of support received the morning of April 2.
The hearing record shows committee members considered technical and oversight questions; the public hearing portion was adjourned at 8:37 a.m. and the matter then proceeded into the regular meeting for formal action on related rezoning ordinances.
