Washington State Utility Raises Power Rates on Bitcoin Miners
A Washington State utility is raising rates on bitcoin miners, months after a dispute with the local industry began over its power usage. The Chelan County Public Utility District (PUD) announced earlier this week that, effective January 2017, electrical rates will rise for so-called "high-density load customers", or those that use 250 kilowatt hours per square foot per year. The definition, as stated by the PUD, is intended specifically to cover server farms and bitcoin mines, or data centers that specifically service network transactions. The increase won't be immediately felt....
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Low electricity rates in Washington and Oregon have attracted bitcoin miners. But the influx has also courted some controversy after one utility along the Columbia River proposed raising rates specifically on the bitcoiners, according to Northwest News Network, a collaboration of public radio stations. Washington and Oregon have low electric rates on account of hydropower dams. The utility, the Chelan County Public Utility District (PUD), is concerned about bitcoin miners taking too much power. The PUD is also reluctant to want to attract too many miners since bitcoin’s volatility doesn’t....
"We feel like it's a bait and switch." That's Michael Cao, CEO of bitcoin mining firm ZoomHash, one of a number of bitcoin miners currently involved in a months-long dispute over power costs with a public utility provider in Chelan County, Washington. Cao isn't alone. Other bitcoin miners in the region say they were drawn by promises of cheap power, a circumstance that's now subject to possible change. Washington state is home to some of the cheapest power sources in the US, a circumstance that, in recent years, has drawn more than a few entrepreneurs hoping to establish....
A Russian power utility has found a way to increase electricity prices for consumers mining cryptocurrency using household electricity. The regional distribution company has taken dozens of amateur miners to court and has already won some of the cases.
Power Utility Goes After Crypto Miners Using Subsidized Electricity to Mint Digital Coins
Irkutskenergosbyt, a power distributor in the Russian region of Irkutsk, has managed to secure an increase of the electricity tariffs for crypto mining farms set up in private homes. The utility was able to prove in court that their owners....
Bitcoin miners in Chelan County, Washington, will have to pay more for electricity due to the approval of a new electric rate for customers with energy intends loads. Public Utility District (PUD) commissioners in Chelan County, Washington have approved a new electricity tariff for customers with an appetite for high energy. The new “high-density load (HDL)” rate applies for customers whose operations scale or exceed 250-kilowatt hours of power per square foot, per year, while not exceeding 5 megawatts of power at any given time. Furthermore, HDL customers are required to pay all the....
As Bitcoin mining operations require more high degree of electricity than any other consumers, County Public Utility District (PUD) Commissioners have approved a bill this week to charge Bitcoin miners in Chelan County, Washington, with increased rates for electricity. As per the report of 560 KPQ on June 8, the approved bill implies around a […]