DigiHost North Tonawanda AI Data Center
"A gas peaker that ran a few weeks a year now burns around the clock to mint Bitcoin, lifting its emissions up to 3,500%."
North Tonawanda, Niagara County, NY
Source: Primary source
DigiHost North Tonawanda AI Data Center is a proposed data center in Niagara County, NY, operated by Digi Power X. DataCentersExposed has documented 123 MW of reported power capacity and a 80,000 sq ft footprint at this site.
Reporting by Eric Keller · Updated Jun 17, 2026
Overview
source: linkThe Fortistar North Tonawanda plant is a 55-megawatt natural-gas peaker in Niagara County, New York, that historically fired only 10 to 74 days a year. Canadian crypto miner Digihost (now Digi Power X, Nasdaq: DGXX) began mining Bitcoin there in 2022, running the plant nearly around the clock behind the meter.
That turned a rarely used peaker into a heavy emitter: about 140,684 tons of carbon dioxide in 2024. The Clean Air Coalition, Sierra Club and Earthjustice sued, and in November 2024 a court vacated the state's approval of the sale for skipping the climate review New York law requires. The city passed a two-year crypto-mining moratorium in July 2024 over a constant cooling-fan drone audible up to a mile away, and residents filed a noise class action in April 2026.
In June 2026 the company pitched converting the mining pods into an 80,000-square-foot enclosed AI and high-performance computing data center. The state air permit remains pending, and the conversion sits before city planners. It is a sharp test of whether the crypto-to-AI pivot cleans up a site or simply relabels it.
Operator chain
- Files asDigi Power X
- This facilityDigiHost North Tonawanda AI Data Center
The grid behind this site, right now
source: NYISO · gridstatus- Natural Gas61.6%
- Hydro17.7%
- Nuclear15.8%
- Other3.0%
- Wind1.9%
Real-time generation mix for the NYISO grid this site draws from, as of Aug 17, 2026, 7:55 PM. ISO-wide, not this facility's own metering. Source: gridstatus.
Grid & water — why here
source: HIFLD · EPAThe closest existing grid infrastructure and the municipal water system this location sits in — the same constraints the buildout model screens on (it won't site a campus more than ~2 km from a substation or ~5 km from municipal water). Distances are straight-line to public HIFLD/EPA features, not a metered connection.
In the news
source: GDELT- Tonawanda Town Board passes data center moratorium - Buffalo Toronto Public MediaBuffalo Toronto Public Media· Aug 4, 2026
- Despite statewide pause, Town of Tonawanda passes data center moratorium - Spectrum NewsSpectrum News· Aug 4, 2026
- Hochul highlights data center moratorium amid proposal to bring $2B facility to Town of Tonawanda - WKBWWKBW· Jul 21, 2026
- DigiHost presents plans to transition to AI data center in North Tonawanda - AudacyAudacy· Jun 9, 2026
- North Tonawanda residents against plan to convert bitcoin mining facility into AI data center - WKBWWKBW· Jun 9, 2026
- Tonawanda residents, state lawmaker push Governor Hochul to sign data center moratorium - WGRZWGRZ· Jun 6, 2026
Tax breaks & subsidies
source: Good Jobs First / GASB 77No per-deal tax break is linked to this site yet. No state discloses the recipient of a data-center abatement at the facility level, so per-site deals are rare in the public record. If you have a development agreement or board resolution for this site, send it to us.
Water use
No measured record exists, so this is a low-confidence model from 123 MW (disclosed IT power): 1.2 L/kWh cooling (cool climate) + 0.45 gal/kWh embedded in US grid average. How we estimate. Have a utility document? Send it and we'll replace this with the real figure.
EPA permits & violations
source: EPA ECHONo reported violations as of last sync.
Nearest school
source: HIFLD / NCESThe nearest public school, Spruce School in North Tonawanda, is 0.8 mi from this site (313 students). 3 public schools sit within a mile of the site.
Schools are sensitive receptors for the noise, backup-generator exhaust, and traffic a large data center brings. Straight-line distance to the nearest public school (HIFLD/NCES, US public schools only).
Hearings timeline
No public-hearing records linked to this site yet. We surface planning-commission and board-of-supervisors dates when a record names a facility. If you know of a hearing on this site, tell us.