WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Washington County Mayor Joe Grandy has resigned from the Board of Directors of the Johnson City Energy Authority (JCEA) after being named as a potential witness in ongoing litigation related to a Bitcoin mine in the county.
A Thursday release from the county states that Grandy elected to resign from the board, which does business with BrightRidge. BrightRidge is currently a defendant in a lawsuit attempting to shut down the Bitcoin mine in rural Limestone, which the county alleges violates zoning rules.
In addition to BrightRidge, the Bitcoin mine’s operator, Red Dog Technologies, is also a defendant in the lawsuit. The cryptocurrency operation is located on BrightRidge property and purchases large amounts of power from the utility’s adjacent substation. Red Dog was not originally listed as a defendant, but the company requested to be added to the lawsuit.
“I want it to be abundantly clear to everyone that my work on the board has always been to do what’s in the best interest of the citizens of Washington County,” Grandy said in the release. “As mayor, I will continue to support the county’s position as we move forward.”
Grandy took a leave of absence from the JCEA board in November 2021 after being named a potential witness in the lawsuit. Grandy has been subpoenaed to provide testimony and records in the case, which is set for March 14 in Washington County Chancery Court.
“Now that it is apparent this case is going to trial, I feel it is important to clearly separate myself from any formal association with the BrightRidge Board,” Grandy said. “My leave of absence became more of an issue than the actual lawsuit and its impact on county residents. My resignation will now place the focus where it needs to be: to continue to have quality representation for the citizens of rural Washington County on BrightRidge’s Board.”
The case has been headed to court for a few months now and at least one Washington County commissioner has openly called for Grandy’s resignation from the board. The commission initiated a shutdown order in September after County Attorney Allyson Wilkinson gave her opinion that the operation violated the A3 (agricultural business) zoning regulations.
That was the first time commissioners learned of the option, but a News Channel 11 investigation found that the county’s zoning administrator and Wilkinson both told Grandy in late May that the use violated the regulations and recommended taking action then to initiate a shutdown.
The release states that the Washington County Commission appointed Grandy to the JCEA’s board in 2014, then appointed again in 2019.
The county first attempted to shut down the mine in September 2021 once commissioners learned from Wilkinson that Red Dog’s operation reportedly violated the zoning ordinance. Several nearby residents had also previously complained of ongoing noise from the Bitcoin mine. BrightRidge is the original defendant in the lawsuit because the provider was the one who sought a rezoning designation for the operation. BrightRidge described the incoming mine as a blockchain data center when it requested the rezoning but never mentioned a private company.
When county commissioners agreed with Wilkinson’s assessment and BrightRidge refused to force its tenant, Red Dog, to shut down after a county order, the commission elected to sue.