A public gathering will be held in Nesquehoning next week regarding new 69-kilovolt transmission lines that are proposed to be constructed for a new facility adjacent to a bitcoin mining company.

A legal notice that has been published in local newspapers states that PPL Electric Utilities will hold the meeting, which will follow an open-house format, at the Nesquehoning Recreation Center, 335 W. Railroad St., from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 2. It is open to the public and there will be no formal presentations during the open house.

The plans call for building new transmission lines, as well as a new substation. The transmission lines will run from the new substation that is proposed east of Tresckow Road in Banks Township to an existing line near the Hauto substation, just north of Route 54 near the Lake Hauto dam. Additional lines are proposed to be constructed from the Hauto substation to a “new customer facility” near Panther Creek Power Plant.

“The new transmission lines and facilities are needed to meet the growing demand for power in the region while enhancing reliability and resilience for all customers in the area,” the legal notice states.

In earlier reports, PPL said that this new transmission line would be put into service by May 2027 with a few total load of 350 megawatts by 2030.

Last month, several actions took place regarding this area above Panther Creek Power Plant, located just off Dennison Road.

The Carbon County Planning Commission, on Aug. 19, reviewed a plan for a subdivision/lot annexation at the intersection of Dennison Road and Green Acres Industrial Park in Nesquehoning, owned by Kovatch Enterprises Inc. The plan called for creating four lots on approximately 585.486 acres from eight parcels.

Ivan O. Meixell Jr., county planner, noted that there were several wetlands, as well as Nesquehoning Creek and Dennison Run coming through the property in question.

“All these wetlands were made by Kovatch Enterprises because when they put CVS down at the other end of town, he was told they had to create wetlands,” Meixell said before recommending approval.

The motion passed and the county’s recommendation was sent to the borough’s planning commission and council to be included with their comments.

A few weeks before that meeting, Bitfarms Ltd., a Canada-based company who purchased Panther Creek Waste Coal-fired Power Plant earlier this year, announced that it had entered into a partnership with T5 Data Centers to develop an advanced A.I. data center at the Nesquehoning facility.

The current operations at the plant includes burning waste coal to create energy for cryptocurrency mining operations.

A release from the company stated that the partnership “will focus on comprehensive pre-construction design planning and development approval processes to advance this significant digital infrastructure investment.”

It plans to use this center to “meet the demands of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence applications, while supporting Pennsylvania’s emergence as a hub for next-generation data center development.”

“We are thrilled to announce our partnership with T5 Data Centers,” said

Bitfarms CEO Ben Gagnon. “With the seven major U.S. hyperscalers as their customers, T5 brings unparalleled industry expertise and is a proven leader in data center Construction, Development, and Operations. This collaboration validates the significant HPC/AI opportunity at our flagship Panther Creek campus in Pennsylvania, where strong political tailwinds following the recent White House commitment to $90 billion of AI investments intersect our 1 GW pipeline in Pennsylvania, positioning Bitfarms at the forefront of the rapidly growing AI infrastructure market in the state. We are excited to leverage T5’s expertise to capitalize on this opportunity, driving development and delivering long-term value for our shareholders.”

Tom Mertz, president and COO of T5 Services added “We’re excited to be selected as a strategic construction partner for Bitfarms as they expand into HPC/AI data center development. Their Panther Creek, Pennsylvania property is well-positioned for building an advanced AI data center campus, and we look forward to supporting this next phase of their growth.”

The operation at the Nesquehoning facility had come in to question last year after it applied for a permit to burn culm with approximately 15% shredded tires included in the coal.

Environmental group Save Carbon County sued the plan after the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection approved the permit, saying that it had environmental violations.

Members also asked anyone living in the area to report if they smelled burning tires.