Chelan County Increases Electricity Rates For Bitcoin Mining Companies

Electricity costs are an important factor that can make or break a profitable mining business in the cryptocurrency world. While many enterprises are focusing their attention on the Washington area for hydropower, home miners may see a higher electricity bill in the future. Apparently, a major utility firm wants to protect itself from Bitcoin volatility.

Cranking Up The Electricity Price in Washington

Washington has been an appealing industry for Bitcoin mining businesses as of late. Many companies are flocking to this area due to its rock-bottom electricity rates. But that situation is coming to change very soon, as Chelan County Public Utility District is planning to crank up the rates very soon.

If the number of server farms in the region continues to increase at the current pace, the situation will become “unsustainable”. This is not good news for the many companies who are launching massive mining farms in Chelan County. A new rate structure has been voted upon, which will make life a lot less profitable for large mining operations.

Compared to traditional industrial or commercial customers, Bitcoin mining farms will be subject to a specific pricing plan. But there is more, as they will be forced to pay for infrastructure upgrades when needed. This could force emerging players to look elsewhere for cheaper electricity rates.

Malachi Salcido commented on the situation as follows:

“We believe they’ve come to as good and fair of a compromise as they can.  “We have a very long view of the opportunity” presented by the block chain technology that underlies the various cryptocurrencies in circulation. His company is establishing operations in both Chelan and Douglas counties to provide “mirrored redundancy” to potential customers.”

The voting on this new proposal was done unanimously, as all parties agree this situation needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. Any enterprise using more than 250-kilowatt hours per square foot per year will be forced to pay this new electricity rate fee structure. At the time of writing, it was unknown when the rates would go into effect exactly.

Image credit 1

If you liked this article follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin and altcoin price analysis and the latest cryptocurrency news.