As bitcoin value topped $41,000 Friday,¹ public utility districts in Central Washington make plans for increased power inquiries, The Seattle Times reports. Depending on the equipment, a single server can pull 1,800 watts; it can take nearly 7,000 servers to mine one bitcoin in a day – meaning each bitcoin mined can use over 300,000kwh (roughly 3,000X the energy the average US household uses per month). Clearly using that much power gets expensive – and with power costs in Central Washington roughly 1/6 the national average, Central Washington is an attractive area to set up a mine. But using that much power can upset the balance of a utility’s power supply, and tax the infrastructure. So engaging in business at this scale must be approached carefully. This Seattle Times article covers more of the details.
