Alabama Town Learns Hard Truth: No Zoning Means No Say as Bitcoin Miner Powers Up

Alabama Town Learns Hard Truth: No Zoning Means No Say as Bitcoin Miner Powers Up

In the rolling pastures outside Somerville, Alabama, a small town of fewer than 800 souls once prized its quiet. Green fields stretched under open skies. Cattle grazed. Families built lives around peace and space. That calm now faces disruption. A 50-megawatt Bitcoin mining facility is moving forward on 15 acres at 369 Union Road. Utility work has already begun. And local officials admit they stand powerless to stop it. The reason is as simple a…

Alabama town left powerless against massive new Bitcoin mining data center after developer finds loophole in state zoning laws

Morgan County's 12-month moratorium has no enforcement power thanks to Dillon’s Rule limiting its ability to act against a proposed 50 MW Bitcoin mine by VoltCoreThe town of Somerville never adopted zoning, and the site sits outside the town limits, leaving its 18-month moratorium equally unenforceableThe developer trades under three different corporate identities, was refused easements by all four affected landowners, and is routing utilities t…