Bitcoin miners in Washington’s Chelan county are getting heavy scrutiny from the county’s utility district.
The last meeting held at the PUD moved to enforce a moratorium placed on new mining applications last month and also to implement the necessary steps to clamp down on illegal miners; including fees and criminal charges. This enforcement is to curb the growing act of unauthorized cryptocurrency operations within the county. Most of all the concern is the protection for both the community and the power equipment and supply.
Initially, the moratorium was originally placed on new cryptocurrency mining applications so as to give the agency time to reviews rates amid massive power consumption. Now the county is threatening fees, penalties, cutting off power and reporting unauthorized activity to the police for people who break the rules. They’re also considering installing automated power consumption meters so that they can uncover secret operations faster.
This measure is as a result of the discovery of several unauthorized bitcoin mining groups across the county. One of which includes an apartment complex where the usage of power skyrocketed 20times its usual use as well a storage facility that was discovered. An estimation from 500-kilowatt-hours to more than 11,000 kWh.
Other concerns said by the PUD states
“Not only are we concerned, were incensed that individuals are putting people at risk. We’re not going to tolerate it. This is a strong message, and I want to make that very clear,” said Commissioner Steve McKenna.
He also reiterated that the county does not have a problem with the cryptocurrency miners, however, he expects that proper authorization should have taken place before mining begins.
CCN recently reported that New York’s public utility regulator gave the green light to municipalities to impose higher electricity rates for cryptocurrency mining facilities with “high-density loads.” as Washington isn’t the only state with bitcoin mining in focus.
