Closure of Bitcoin Mining Center Over Noise Complaints
A Bitcoin mining center in Norway’s municipality of Hadsel stopped its operation last week after receiving a lot of noise complaints from locals and politicians. The constant noise of the fans running day and night to cool off the mining computers had become a real thorn in the side for the neighborhood.
Much-used Electricity Consumption Now Missing
The crypto mining facility used some 80 GWh of electricity annually, according to a report by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation-or the yearly consumption of approximately 3,200 households. This heavy load now comes off the local grid.
Impact on Local Electricity Bills
The result is that the people of Hadsel are having to bear a 20% more electricity bill. Earlier, the mining center used to bear 20% of the income that came to Noranett-a local network company transporting electricity from the power plants to customers. Since the major customer is gone now, this burden has fallen upon the remaining residents.
Residents to Pay More
The average family that hitherto paid between NOK 12,000 and 13,000-a-year, approximately $1,130 to $1,225, will from next month start having an additional NOK 2,500 to 3,000 burden. Robin Jakobsen, Noranett network manager, said that losing such a large customer in one fell swoop means increasing the burden on the other electricity consumers.
New Projects Sought by Municipality for Surplus Electricity
Hadsel’s mayor Kjell-Børge Freiberg said he was happy after the closure: “This facility has been a plague the last three years.” Now the municipality hope new projects can utilize the overcapacity and thereby bring down the electricity bill for its residents in the future.
Ahead of the curve
What was to be a power-boosting, energy-intensive ‘mining’ operation has turned into an ostensible conundrum in this coastal town. A situation evidencing that one interdisciplinary, ambivalent relationship exists between energy consumers, such as industries involving cryptocurrency mining, and their relationships with local communities, is: “Although the shutdown does shut off noisy machinery, it brings financial disruptions into the communities.” The municipality of Hadsel has already engaged discussions on how to balance community well-being with economic stability.
