New York Is Opened Up For Miners Now
CryptoBit News Today1 min read
A cryptocurrency miner is converting a New York hydroelectric dam into a mining farm to take advantage of low-cost, renewable energy. DPW Holdings, through its subsidiary Super Crypto Mining, is set to operate a crypto mining farm at Valatie Falls, a 1-megawatt hydroelectric dam in upstate New York. The site will utilize its own AntEater miner hardware, which was developed in early 2018 in collaboration with Samsung Semiconductors.
The Valatie Falls hydroelectric dam, originally built in 1983, was purchased by Valatie Falls Hydro in March 2018. The acquisition was financed by another DPW unit, Digital Power Lending, a California lender that specializes in consumer and small business financing. To adapt the dam for mining, DPW's engineers at Coolisys Technologies worked closely with crypto mining engineers and Valatie Falls' hydro experts.
Cryptocurrency mining has faced pushback from regulators as it increasingly strains small grids across upstate New York.
Under the commission's decision, municipal power suppliers could raise electricity rates starting in March for customers with peak demand exceeding 300kW or load densities over 250kWh per square foot per year.
The heavy power load from crypto mining has raised electricity prices in many small towns. The commission noted that in some communities, cryptocurrency mining consumes thousands of times more electricity than a typical residential customer.
But the high power usage has prompted backlash. Plattsburgh enacted an 18-month moratorium on new mining operations to protect natural resources, resident health, and the city's character and direction. The town is the first in the U.S. to implement such a restriction, although the moratorium doesn't affect current miners.
DPW is expected to mitigate the impact of potentially higher electricity rates by utilizing the inexpensive power produced by the dam.
The facility is scheduled to become fully operational in the fourth quarter of 2018, establishing a new mining model in a sector where electricity is the largest operating expense.
