Crypto company looking into new facilities in Glencoe

A crypto mining company that has faced criticism for noise pollution is pursuing a possible $40 million to $60 million expansion of its facilities in central Minnesota.

The company, Colorado-based Revolve Labs, in a recent meeting said it sought a “potential site design and operation change” for its facility in Glencoe, about 50 miles southwest of the Twin Cities.

Revolve Labs would install one or two AI data centers, as well as cooling systems and backup generators, according to a handout presented by the company at a meeting with the Glencoe Economic Development Authority in September.

Representatives for the company said at the meeting that the project could cost between $40 million and $60 million and would employ 10 people, Mark Larson, Glencoe city administrator, said this week.

A representative for Revolve Labs said the company is looking into several locations for new facilities, with Glencoe being one of these candidates. “We’re too early in the process to share concrete details,” said the statement by Jeff St. Onge, senior operations manager at Revolve Labs.

The facility in Glencoe, a flagship site for Revolve Labs, has faced criticism for noise pollution, sparking debates similar to those in other communities across the country with crypto mining and AI data centers.

On one hand, crypto mining operations are hungry for energy, leading to electrical bills that provide cities with extra cash. Glencoe’s partnership with Revolve Labs has brought in more than half a million dollars a year in net revenue, said Dave Meyer, general manager of the Glencoe Light and Power Commission.

“It’s a revenue stream that goes into our coffers and quite frankly keeps everything cheaper,” Meyer said in a phone call. The money has paid for streetlight projects, and there hasn’t been an electrical rate hike in five years, he added.

On the other hand, crypto mining facilities and AI data centers often lead to noise complaints by neighbors. The machines used for crypto mining facilities and AI data centers operate around the clock and are usually cooled by banks of noisy fans.

When it opened in 2022, the crypto mining facility in Glencoe had sound levels of 80 to 85 decibels, about the same as a gasoline-powered lawn mower or leaf blower.

Eddie Gould, 80, said his blood pressure has increased since Revolve Labs, known at the time as Bit49, moved in next door. “The anxiety is high. It’s a major part of our life that wasn’t there before,” Gould said.

Gould walked out of his home on Thursday and held his phone out his back door, letting a loud, steady drone come through the speakers. “Nothing is going to replace the three years of torture we’ve had,” he said.

Similar noise complaints from residents living near crypto mining facilities have been reported in Texas, North Dakota and Arkansas.

In southwestern Minnesota, concerns about noise led to dozens of residents in Windom voicing their opposition in August to a conditional use application by Revolve Labs to build a facility there.

“Your business is not welcome here,” Windom resident Dustin Harrold said at the hearing then. “When a company like yours comes into my county and challenges my small-town ideas, I get a little riled up.”

The hearing led to the company pulling out of the proposal a month later, citing feedback from the community.

In a statement Wednesday, Revolve Labs said it has taken measures to dampen the noise at its Glencoe site. The company said it built a 16-foot-tall fence to deaden noise and installed exhaust shrouds to direct air from the cooling fans into the sky so that sound goes upward instead of toward neighboring residents.

The company’s new plan appeared to be very aware of the noise complaints. The handout document mentions the possibility of shifting some of the company’s crypto mining facilities around and removing the unit deemed most “obstreperous,” meaning noisy and difficult to control.

Glencoe city officials said they expect to discuss the issue further in the Economic Development Authority’s next meeting on Oct. 29.