It’s a chilly reception in the Bluegrass state for cryptominers. Recent events saw Kentucky’s Public Service Commission shooting down a proposal from Ebon International for discounted energy rates. The contract, rejected in late August, had earmarked a cool $50 million for the operation of a cryptocurrency mining facility in the city of Louisa.
Under the provisions of the proposed contract, Ebon International had scoped out a rising scale of operation, intending a 100-megawatt mining operation till 2024, with plans to ramp up the load to a substantial 250 MW later. The offer on the table had the Kentucky Power Company penciled in to provide electricity at a favorable rate over the course of a decade. Yet, the electricity regulator in December 2022 revealed intentions to consider the agreement carefully.
The commission’s decision comes as a relief to environmental advocacy groups like Earthjustice and Greenpeace. According to Joshua Archer, the Bitcoin Campaign Lead for Greenpeace USA, the subsidizing of such large-scale crypto mining operations would have a domino effect – aggravating the climate crisis and putting undue strain on the taxpayers of Kentucky. Thus, whilst cryptocurrency advocates saw potential financial growth, the opposing side warns of a worrying upswing in environmental and fiscal burdens.
The state of Kentucky is known for being one of the major Bitcoin mining hubs in the United States. And just as in other significant cryptocurrency mining areas including Texas, Georgia, and New York, the environmental repercussions of this industry have led to local organizations pushing for stringent regulations and even total bans on crypto mining.
These actions have had real-world consequences. In November 2022, New York made history by signing a moratorium on Proof-of-Work mining into law. Furthermore, Texas passed a bill in April which removed incentives for miners.
The news from Kentucky marks another chapter in this ongoing push and pull in the crypto landscape. Stakeholders on both sides continue to face an uphill task of establishing renewable and sustainable methods of mining if they want to see progress. The question now is how many more dominoes will fall before we see a meaningful compromise emerge for the often-contentious issue of crypto mining operations. As always, the minute-by-minute drama of the crypto world continues to wrap everyone around its blockchain-evolving finger.
Source: Cointelegraph
