[HN Gopher] Bitcoin Mining Shutdown Cause 20% Surge in Electrici...
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       Bitcoin Mining Shutdown Cause 20% Surge in Electricity Bills
        
       Author : tomohawk
       Score  : 13 points
       Date   : 2024-09-21 17:19 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (bitcoinmagazine.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (bitcoinmagazine.com)
        
       | not_your_vase wrote:
       | If I was anti-crypto, I would say "finally, they found a
       | legitimate usecase for bitcoin for the avg Joe".
       | 
       | But I am not anti-crypo. So I will just say that they should
       | restart mining, but this time with water cooling (alternatively:
       | Norway is cold on its own... do they really need active cooling?
       | just put the miner outside, lol)
        
       | mikehall314 wrote:
       | The problem here seems to be that Noranett wants to keep the same
       | revenues despite selling less electricity.
       | 
       | I don't think that a point in favour of Bitcoin, it's a point
       | against the idea of "revenue must grow at all costs"
        
         | twojacobtwo wrote:
         | That was one of my first thoughts as well. The article sells
         | this increase as a necessity, but with no note of whether that
         | was to maintain profits or operating costs, further research
         | may be required. My feeling is that it's the former though.
        
       | twojacobtwo wrote:
       | Interestingly, in the list of other articles at the bottom of the
       | page was the previous entry in this story:
       | 
       | > Noise Complaints May Cause Norwegian Bitcoin Mining Center to
       | Shut Down
       | 
       | From August, 2018! The earlier article also states that they were
       | operating without permits for over a year by the time of that
       | article. Sounds like the town has offered incredible patience.
       | 
       | Further:
       | 
       | > Many of the area's residents have been forced to evacuate
       | bedrooms close to the venture's primary facility and keep their
       | windows shut throughout the day, even during the summer's rising
       | temperatures.
       | 
       | After 7 years of that, I think I would opt for the 20% increase
       | in my electric bill as well.
        
       | gomerspiles wrote:
       | Norway seems to have an electric grid that even connects to other
       | countries.. They are complaining about last mile maintenance
       | costs divided by users?
        
       | arnvald wrote:
       | > 20% increase in electricity bills for the town's residents
       | 
       | > residents are now faced with paying several hundred dollars
       | more per year for electricity
       | 
       | > The company estimates bills could rise by up to $300 monthly
       | 
       | This doesn't seem right, electricity in Norway is generally
       | cheap, how can 20% raise cause hundreds of dollars difference for
       | residential customers? Also I'd be totally willing to pay 20%
       | more if that meant removing some annoying noise in my area.
       | 
       | Edit: maybe instead of dollars they meant Norwegian Krone? 10 NOK
       | = 1 USD, that would make more sense
        
         | mikehall314 wrote:
         | I'm trying to find the source of the $300 claim. Mostly it's
         | appearing on Bitcoin websites, which say it's an estimate from
         | Noranett.
         | 
         | At least one Bitcoin site is reporting the figure as $300 per
         | year.
         | 
         | The Noranett press release announcing the 20% increase does not
         | put a dollar (or krone) amount on it.
        
       | grues-dinner wrote:
       | That's the second crypto mine I've heard of that's affecting
       | residents with noise within a couple of weeks. Are they nearer
       | housing than normal datacentres or do they skimp on cooling
       | system design because they are slapped up quickly and not
       | expected to operate for that long? Or just reporting bias?
        
         | Ekaros wrote:
         | Skimp on cooling system. Basically the miners are on open air
         | racks and then there is huge fans that really are not optimised
         | for noise that are run as needed. So yeah in essence you can
         | have something like electric leaf blowers running all the time.
        
       | Ekaros wrote:
       | Math doesn't really make sense for the 300$ figure. Say it is
       | increase of 300, that means original would be 1500 a month. Which
       | is something like 7500 kWh at 20 cents a kwh... A month, or 105
       | MWh a year... These figures seem really extreme. Even if it is
       | the highest consumption month in the year.
        
       | mensetmanusman wrote:
       | Seems cheaper to just buy a noise dampener.
        
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       (page generated 2024-09-21 23:02 UTC)