“Minera Paradise” in the USA is closed for new business: only residents themselves and two old farms will mine

Public Hearings in Plattsburgh

Plattsburgh in the state of New York became the first American city, which officially imposed a moratorium on mining cryptocurrency. The moratorium was introduced for 18 months: during this time it is forbidden to open new miner farms. Low electricity tariffs have attracted several companies to the “mining paradise”. Others wanted to follow, but the mayor's office turned on a red light.

As it should be, before the adoption of the new order , public hearings were held , at which both opponents and supporters of the expansion of mining business in the city spoke. Each side expressed its arguments.

The main argument of opponents of excessive mining is the lack of cheap electricity. Due to the strong increase in energy consumption in recent months in the 20,000th town, electricity tariffs have skyrocketed. The culprits were recognized by two cryptocurrency companies, which last year installed new mining farms in the southern part of the city.
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Thanks to hydropower plants near Plattsburgh, it receives cheap gyroelectric power from the New York Office of Energy, which makes it possible to set relatively low tariffs. The average household in Plattsburgh consumes between 4,000 and 5,000 kWh per month (judging by consumption, household mining in Plattsburgh is flourishing). Everyone was happy with the situation with cheap electricity, until professional miners came to the city.

As it turned out during the hearings, two new farms, where only a few people work, consume more electricity than the Georgia-Pacific pulp and paper mill.

As a result, the Department of Urban Lighting of Plattsburgh went beyond the limit on cheap electricity from hydroelectric power plants. To compensate for the shortage, we had to buy electricity in the spot market, where prices could be 50-100 times higher. Naturally, you have to pay from the city budget, that is, the financial burden falls on the entire population of the city. Simply put, the cost of urban lighting is proportionally distributed among households and enterprises.

This winter, the city has twice exceeded the limit of cheap energy. The problems were aggravated by the unusually cold December and January. As a result, citizens and companies began to express discontent. For example, at the hearing, the financial director of the local Mold Rite plant, which employs almost 500 local residents, spoke. He said that last month, the electricity bill had risen by $ 22,000. A company representative said: their plant has been the city’s economic anchor for the past 40 years.

Ordinary households paid an average of $ 10 more for electricity in January.

One of the local residents, whose home is located near the industrial park Imperial Industrial Park, complained about the noise from large mining mine fans.

Computer Science Professor Steven Crane (Steven Crane) from SUNY Plattsburgh explained to the city council that cryptocurrency operations are market speculation. He said that the owners of existing mining farms, apparently, responsibly run business, but other businessmen may not be like this: “They act in a hurry, and haste is incompatible with critical thinking,” said the professor.

Tom Pillsworth, a local businessman and popularizer of cryptocurrencies, spoke out against the moratorium. He told the audience what a blockchain is and what kind of revolution it will produce. The businessman urged to make a modest hub out of modest Plattsburgh: “The eyes of the whole world are fixed on us!” He said.

The manager of Imperial Industrial Park also spoke out against the moratorium. The manager said that the situation on the Internet is changing rapidly and 18 months is an eternity. After a year and a half, businessmen may no longer want to come here themselves.

However, following the results of the hearings, the city council unanimously voted for the moratorium on mining. “Our electricity reserves are not unlimited,” said Mayor Colin Read (Colin Read). “We have a limited resource, and we cannot risk it.”

At the time of the moratorium, it is prohibited to open new miner enterprises in the city. Old farms, of course, will continue to work under existing contracts. The ban will not affect both home miners and family miner companies like Plattsburgh BTC .

The moratorium can be lifted at any time, if the city receives more complete economic calculations, how much electricity can be allocated for mining and how to ease the burden on taxpayers.

Now there are negotiations with the owners of miner farms about ways to reduce electricity tariffs for the population. For example, a representative of the mine company Coinmint LLC agreed to suspend operations for several days, when the city is approaching the exhaustion of the limit on cheap electricity.

Well, mining companies can open their farms in neighboring cities, where the same low electricity rates, and the authorities do not put sticks in the wheels. For example, a month ago, the same company Coinmint opened a farm in the small town of Massena (13 thousand inhabitants) near Plattsburgh - promised to create 150 jobs and invest $ 165 million.