Electricity usage surges as US city considers banning Bitcoin mining

[Editor's note of Tencent Technology] According to foreign media reports, due to the recent rise in Bitcoin prices, more and more miners have appeared in all corners of the world to mine Bitcoin day and night, which has also led to power shortages in some cities. Plattsburgh in New York State is one of them.

The concept of "Bitcoin" was first proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto during the global economic crisis in 2009. In simple terms, Bitcoin is a P2P digital currency. Unlike most currencies, Bitcoin is not issued by a specific monetary institution. It is generated through a large amount of calculations based on a specific algorithm. The Bitcoin economy uses a distributed database composed of many nodes in the entire P2P network to confirm and record all transactions, and uses cryptographic design to ensure the security of each link in the currency circulation.

A local miner named David Bowman in Plattsburgh first came into contact with Bitcoin in 2014. After realizing that this digital currency could make money, he immediately rented an abandoned factory in the area and began to set up a large number of mining machines in it. Currently, Bowman has set up a Bitcoin mining network consisting of 20 large servers in the area.

However, the local government does not seem to like this new way of "getting rich" because the continuous operation of a large number of servers may lead to electricity shortages in the local area.

Colin Read, the mayor of Plattsburgh and a PhD in economics, also sees Bitcoin mining as a public nuisance. Read said that Bitcoin mining currently consumes about 10% of Plattsburgh's electricity, forcing the local government to purchase more and more additional electricity on the open market at a price that is more than 100 times the base cost.

"The increase in cryptocurrency mining activity has caused our electricity usage to surge past our cap and is impacting our ratepayers," Reed said.

According to local media reports, there are currently two large-scale Bitcoin mining farms in Plattsburgh, and the electricity they use has reached 11.2 megawatts. Although the owners of both mines believe that the several surges in electricity consumption in Plattsburgh in the past are normal in winter, city officials are considering issuing an ordinance to stop local Bitcoin mining activities.

This is mainly because the small town of Massena, about two hours away from Plattsburgh, has always had a stable supply of cheap electricity, but now Massena has a Bitcoin mining farm with thousands of servers, which even employs hundreds of people. And because of the power supply problems caused by mining, Massena has lost several major corporate employers, including an aluminum smelter and a General Motors plant.

Plattsburgh officials worry they could become the next Massena, unable to provide a steady supply of electricity to citizens and businesses.

In this regard, Bowman said: "I understand that the government needs to ensure the normal electricity needs of citizens, but I think there are other options, such as charging miners more expensive electricity bills. It is not a good idea to completely ban these activities. After all, this is still a new thing." (Comprehensive/Tom)