Greenidge Generation air permit renewal denied by New York regulator

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's ("NYSDEC") has denied the renewal of Greenidge Generation Holdings' (NASDAQ:GREE) existing Title V Air Permit, but the decision "does not have any impact on our current operations" in Dresden, New York, the company said Wednesday in a statement. The eco-friendly bitcoin (BTC-USD) miner's operations in the state will be uninterrupted "because our application was already deemed complete, we operate pursuant to the State Administrative Procedures Act ("SAPA")," so "with the provisions of the SAPA, we can continue running uninterrupted under our existing Title V Air Permit, which is still in effect, for as long as it takes to successfully challenge this arbitrary and capricious decision," Greenidge Generation said. Furthermore, "there is no credible legal basis whatsoever for a denial of this application because there is no actual threat to the State's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act ("CLCPA") from our renewed permit."The denial of the air permit was considered a win for regulators as they seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Lately, New York has been clamping down on Proof-of-Work-based bitcoin (BTC-USD) miners given how energy-intensive the process is. Nevertheless, "our Dresden facility represents a remarkably insignificant 0.2% of New York's target GHG emissions level for 2030, and we have already reduced our GHG emissions at the facility by 70% ...