newly introduced invoice The Michigan Legislature is threatening to put a brake on the expansion of the state’s cryptocurrency mining industry.
House Bill 5882 aims to give local governments explicit authority to suspend construction of both cryptocurrency mining facilities and large data centers.
The bill was introduced last month by state Reps. Miller, Diebendorf and Paize, and was subsequently referred to the Government Operations Committee.
crackdown on mining
The bill aims to regulate energy-intensive computing facilities by giving local governments more power to amend zoning ordinances and approve construction.
Communities are increasingly concerned about energy consumption, noise pollution, and strain on local power grids.
According to cryptocurrency policy tracking account Bitcoin Laws on X (formerly Twitter), the law essentially provides a “roadmap and checklist for local governments that want to block construction.”
HB 5882 would allow towns and counties to assess the environmental and infrastructure impacts of commercial cryptocurrency miners before allowing them to break ground.
If passed, the bill could significantly slow the influx of new mining operations in Michigan.
Environmentally conscious legislators (“activist legislators”) are increasingly treating AI data centers and crypto mining facilities as one and the same when enacting restrictive legislation. Rather than just targeting cryptocurrencies, they are grouping the two industries together to try to block or pause its construction.
