As bitcoin mining hooks into Upstate NY power plants, some wonder if it’s just more hot air

Yates County plant powers bitcoin mining

The Greenidge Generation Holdings power plant in Dresden, Yates County, will provide power for bitcoin mining operations.Abi Buddington | Special to Syracuse.com

Syracuse, N.Y. – By next year, owners of a gas-fired power plant on Seneca Lake hope to be producing enough electricity to power 85,000 homes.

But much of that electricity won’t turn on lights in living rooms. It will instead stay on site at the plant in Dresden, powering up to 27,000 computers that will run 24 hours a day to snag increasingly rare virtual currency called bitcoin.

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