The Northwest Pacific region in the US might become a possible hub for Bitcoin miners due to low charges on electricity. The region was earlier overpopulated with Chinese miners who conducting their Bitcoin mining in the area.
Bitcoin’s Bull-Run and crypto industry’s boom had put the Public Utility Districts (PUD) on high alert within the area of Central Washington. The State had been growing concerns over increased electricity bills which would be caused due to crypto mining. One of the officials of PUD had reportedly stated that they have come to know that many of the Bitcoin miners from China have settled in the region. He said that Chinese miners had set up their settlements for Bitcoin mining because there are low electricity charges in the region.
However, state machinery had come into action to stop Chinese miners to take undue advantage of low electricity rates within the region. Apprehension of PUD is genuine because in 2017-18 there was a mining boom which created worries for State authorities at Columbia River Basin. Once again, the Authorities had been concerned too much that Bitcoin miners would once again re-establish their mining setups there.
In 2017-18, the Authorities had also revised electricity tariffs so as to fight off miners by increasing electricity charges. However, once again they had been faced with the same situation. Currently as well the electricity charges in the region are considerably lower than in other parts of the US. But due to pandemics, the Authorities would not be willing to increase the electricity charges as this will also frustrate the citizens.
It was informed by the Authorities on 11th January that so far they had not witnessed any suspicious commercial usage of electricity. An official said that the miners might be conducting low-scale mining which do not consume too much electricity. But in any case, there are chances that the local grid lines would go under immense load and pressure, he explained.
John Stoll, MD PUD of Chelan County stated that they are keeping a close eye on any Bitcoin mining activity. So far he hadn’t come across any suspicious activity, but they are ready to deal with it there and then, he added.
