Bitcoin Mining Comes To New York As Lawmakers Approve Power Allocation
Cloud mining service Coinmint has won approval to take over an abandoned smelter for Bitcoin mining operations on Tuesday, Jan. 30.
As local news broadcaster WWNYTV reports Thursday along with local government documentation, lawmakers in upstate New York voted in favor of awarding subsidiary North Country Data Center (NCDC) 15 megawatts of low-cost power.
This is subject to agreement of tariffs among members, stated the New York Power Authority Board of Trustees and New York State Canal Corporation Board of Directors.
The operation should involve a $165 mln investment in infrastructure from Coinmint and the creation of 150 jobs for the population of nearest town Massena and the surrounding area.
New York State was previously not known for its involvement or openness to cryptocurrency mining, that title traditionally belonging to Washington State with its cheap electricity.
“That's been one of our main marketing points is that we have cheap reliable power,” Massena town supervisor Steven O'Shaughnessy countered to WWNYTV.
The encouraging news comes after reports across the Atlantic in Europe that major energy provider Enel had refused renewable energy sales to the cryptocurrency mining operator Envion, claiming it was an “unsustainable practice.”
The mixed arena continues worldwide, with Russia confirming plans to transform spare grid capacity into mining setups and former monopoly China producing messages about its plans to ostensibly withdraw from the industry altogether.
“This is a large allocation of power, but certainly 150 jobs is nothing to sneeze at,” Assemblywoman Addie Jenne meanwhile said about the New York’s plans hinting at local government priorities.