Council Hears About Potential Bitcoin Miners Venture Proposed To REA

BITCOIN MINING - This is an example of a box that would be potentially used in a bit coin facility on REA property east of town.

The O'Neill City Council met on Monday, Jan. 5, for its regular monthly meeting, with Mayor Scott Menish and Councilman Tim Schneider absent.

The Council had Matt Fritz, general manager of the Niobrara Valley Electric Corporation, speak to them about a new venture that could place infrastructure at the REA's storage yard on the outskirts of O'Neill, which is within the City's zoning range.

"I got a phone call from a couple of individuals from Iowa, and they are Bitcoin miners, and they are looking to come into Nebraska. I visited with the co-op in Iowa, where they're from.

They currently have six megawatts in different facilities there. They sent me their service contract. They sent me their copy of their bill. After visiting with that co-op, they're pretty good customers. They're punctual with their work.

"I still don't quite understand all of it, but what I do understand is energy and power and the effects that it can have on a community or a business. They want to put a 1.5-megawatt facility on the Niobrara Valley service territory and conduct some studies. The best-suited facility would be out by our pole yard, on 108, right next to the substation.

We have the land there. I visited with Sarah a couple of weeks ago, and it looks like we're zoned correctly. They will need a building permit because it's essentially a shipping container. One of the shipping containers is 1.5 megawatts, and 1.5 megawatts is like 20 irrigation pivots. And so, why are we going after something like this? Well, Niobrara Valley in the summertime, with all the pivots running at 65 megawatts. The city is about 10. Currently, I'm at 13 megawatts.

So I have all this infrastructure, capacity, and money invested for six weeks out of the year. This would be a customer who would come in and use those facilities, and I would sell the excess energy I have in my off times. And I've come up with an agreement that they can't run under any circumstances unless I have availability in the summertime. But essentially from September 1st to June. 30.

They can run full bore depending on the time, or how dry it is, or anything like that. So why I'm here is where the facility is located; it's my understanding that it falls underneath the city's zoning because it's within a mile of the city limits.

The way it sounds, we're okay to put something like that on. I just wanted the council to know what I have in the works.

I have a board meeting next Wednesday, and I don't see any issues with my board approving the rates and the lease agreements for the land. If my board approves it next Wednesday or Thursday, the contract will go out. It's going to take some time to get equipment and facilities ready for something like this. By September or October, they will be in place and ready to go if everything goes according to plan. I can't say how it benefits the city because Niobrara Valley doesn't serve the city. But those of you who have meters on us, this is a huge opportunity to stabilize rates," said Fritz.

"Next on the agenda was setting the date for Bond Financing for work on the Anaerobic Digesters at the sewer plants. The Digesters are the big diked lagoons before the sewer plant. The content is covered and heated. When the process is complete, the waste material can be used as fertilizer. The Digesters need to be uncovered and then dug out to the bottom, and a new liner put in and reset to start over," said Water and Sewer Supervisor Jason Baker. The cost of the operation will be 1.3 million.  The council approved a resolution to begin exploring financing a bond at a later date.

The council moved on to approving resolutions to continue the LB840 program. The LB840 program has to be re-approved by the election every 15 years, and the city is doing it early to make sure they have time to get it in the election cycle. The Council approved the resolution to renew the program and then the way the program is funded.

Rich McIntosh got up next to ask the council about taking over the insurance and maintenance of the four 'Welcome to O'Neill' signs. McIntosh stated that when the O'Neill Ambassadors initially started the projects, it was understood that the City would help with maintenance and pay for the power for the lights and insurance, which has increased significantly in the past few years. City Attorney Boyd Strope commented that when he wrote those contracts, he understood that was supposed to happen, but it never transpired that way. The council asked Strope to see the contracts to be more familiar with them, but said they had no problem honoring them and taking over the responsibility. The O'Neill Chamber of Commerce has been paying the bills for the signs for quite some time, as the Ambassadors are under the Chamber's umbrella.

The Council took care of some housekeeping, including resolutions on truck spillage, definitions of rubbish and trash, and dangerous buildings. 

The Council approved the Chamber of Commerce's street closure proposals for 2026.

Councilwoman Kayla Burdick submitted a letter to the council regarding her concern about a name change in a recent approval of Mayor Appointments at the last meeting. The list was changed before the meeting, and the council did not have enough time to review the changes. Burdick warned the council that it was possibly a violation of the Open Meeting Act.

The council announced that it will look at updating its One and Six Street projects at a future date. The council approved the bills and adjourned for the evening.

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