Recruitment and consulting firm Something New LLC (through SN Operations) has proposed to construct an 18MW Bitcoin mining facility south of Jerseyville, Illinois.

Known as the Delhi Project, the development would occupy seven acres of a 15-acre MJM Electric Cooperative property at 28860 Van Horne Lane in unincorporated Jersey County, beside one of the cooperative’s substations. The company submitted a commercial building permit application on June 4, according to documents obtained by RiverBender.

Plans call for eight removable equipment containers, eight dry cooling units, and eight pad-mounted transformers, alongside electrical infrastructure, a gravel access driveway and equipment yard, fencing, and monitoring and security cameras.

RiverBender reported an estimated development cost of $2 million, excluding a further $420,000 for the land. The documents describe a removable installation without a conventional commercial building, with personnel attending for inspection, maintenance, repairs, and operational support.

Although County Board chairman Mark Wagner has identified the proposed workload as Bitcoin mining, RiverBender noted that the project documents do not mention Bitcoin. They instead describe modular digital infrastructure and a containerized data center.

A building permit had not been issued as of RiverBender’s October 14 report. The County Board took no action on the project during its October 13 meeting.

The Telegraph identified the company’s manager as Oleg Atayants of Hillsboro, Illinois. It also reported that Jersey County Soil and Water Conservation District resource conservationist Jeff Blackorby had reviewed the development plan and found it met the county’s stormwater requirements. Proposed measures include perimeter silt fencing, a detention basin and erosion controls.

Residents used the meeting’s public comment period to question the development’s effects on electricity and water costs, noise, local employment and tax revenue. Other speakers opposed introducing zoning restrictions, exposing disagreement over how the county should regulate future projects.

In a statement subsequently published by River County News, Wagner said Jersey County has no zoning laws and warned that rejecting a permit application meeting existing requirements could expose the county to legal action. He said officials were examining how to respond to further or larger developments.

“It’s a very complex issue, and the Jersey County Board is seeking answers just like you,” Wagner said.

Power arrangements were described as preliminary in an October 19 River County News report. MJM communications and member services coordinator Eric Cooper said the proposal was at the “request-for-information stage” and that there were no agreements. “It’s really just at the RFI level, request for information,” he told the publication.

Cooper said MJM reviews proposed customers for reliability, financial soundness, and long-term value, requiring financial guarantees and a matching power-supply plan. He said MJM works with its power supplier, Wabash Valley Power Alliance, to prevent new demand from imposing costs on existing members.

Oleg Atayants last year requested a special use permit from the City of Troy in Illinois to construct a 7,200 sq ft (668 sqm) warehouse facility with an initial use for cryptocurrency mining operations on 2 acres at 1412 Alarth Drive.