Chelan County Public Utility District (PUD) in Washington has proposed a new pricing structure of electricity for cryptocurrency miners. The increased costs are meant to pass down the cost for increased electricity demand due to operations of firms involved in mining Bitcoins (BTC), according to a recent report by the Central Washington radio station KPQ.
Electricity Rates Structures Remain the Same- Lindsey Mohns
The Customer Utilities Rate Adviser, Lindsey Mohns, explained the difference between the electricity pricing system currently used and the proposed one. She stated that the structure of the rates is “built the same as the existing rate structure that cryptocurrency miners are paying right now.” She further stated that;
“What this new rate structure (Schedule 36) does is brings into it a market consideration on the energy price because we will have to purchase power on the market to serve the variable load associated with cryptocurrency.”
Kimberlee Craig, the Public Information Officer of Chelan PUD, explained further that the district “is addressing (the rate structure) in a way that captures the cost and protects the investment for the customers that are already here and invested greatly in our system.”
KPQ reported that the investments in the quote by the Public Information Officer was PUD’s fixed expenses which included the covering of the accelerated infrastructure costs in their system. Several members of the crypto community made their feelings known about the proposal of the new pricing system, which was mostly negative.
The stance of Governments towards Crypto Mining
Earlier this year, in April, Chelan PUD stated that it had caught unauthorized cryptocurrency miners and directed the staff to enforce a moratorium on cryptocurrency mining. The ban on cryptocurrency mining isn’t only applicable in the Chelan County, but also the city of Ephrata in Washington which recently imposed a one year ban on new cryptocurrency operations. The moratorium hasn’t been limited to the U.S., as the Quebec government has imposed a ban on electricity sale to crypto miners until next year May.
