VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Conifex Timber said it will appeal a 2023 ruling by the British Columbia Supreme Court that halted its plans for two cryptocurrency mining operations.

Conifex, a forestry and independent power company operating in Mackenzie, British Columbia, sought to develop High Performance Computing (HPC) data centers in Salmon Valley and Ashton Creek. Those plans were put on hold late in 2022 when the Lieutenant Governor in Council (LGIC) directed the British Columbia Utilities Commission by Order-in-Council (OIC) to relieve BC Hydro of the obligation to supply electrical service for cryptocurrency projects for a period of 18 months. Conifex said, the cryptocurrency moratorium forced Conifex to halt development at two HPC sites BC Hydro had identified as locations with available power to support HPC data center operations.

In April 2023, Conifex filed a petition in the BC Supreme Court seeking judicial review of the OIC and an order quashing and setting aside the OIC as unauthorized or otherwise invalid. The high court dismissed the petition in February 2024, ruling that while the LGIC could not impose a permanent ban on supplying power, imposing a temporary ban on cryptocurrency miners was valid.

“Conifex has not been provided any credible justification for allowing BC Hydro to deny service to our two HPC sites,” said Ken Shields, chairman and CEO of Conifex. “With the large number of forest sector plant closures over the past few years, it is obvious that forestry companies need to diversify and strengthen their revenue streams to sustain operations. Successfully appealing the decision will provide us a clear path to resume work on initiatives that meet the social and economic expectations of our employees, contractors and shareholders, as well as residents of the communities where we operate.”

According to CBC, BC Hydro CEO Christopher O'Riley submitted an affidavit to the BC Supreme Court that Conifex’s proposed data centers would have consumed 2.5 million megawatt-hours of electricity each year. BC Hydro’s website 2.5 million mega-watts is enough power to power and heat more than 570,000 apartments.