New problem emerges for US crypto miners

• Crypto miners in Washington will have to pay higher rates for the electricity they use for mining.
• Issue comes due to the mining surge in 2017, which led to the creation of a new ‘Evolving Industries’ class.
• The miners filed a complaint, noting that this is no longer the situation, but the complaint was dismissed.

Years ago, when Bitcoin was still new and largely unknown, crypto mining was not only profitable, but also quite easy. Anyone could do it with only their PC, and even the consumption of electricity sat much lower than today.

However, those days are long gone now, as the cost of mining grew with each new miner that came to the sector. However, crypto miners from the US will also have to deal with additional issues regarding mining.

The US is far from the crypto-friendliest country even on its good days. Now, only a month before Bitcoin halving, it just delivered another blow to the mining industry.

US miners to pay higher rates for mining facilities

The new problem is currently hitting cryptocurrency traders in the US state of Washington. They will have to pay higher rates for crypto mining facilities in the state.

The origin of the issue came three years ago, in 2017. Back then, the state’s district of Grant County, said that there was a massive influx of power requests during the summer. The requests came from the crypto miners, who used the cheap energy rates of the district.

The requests led to a surge of the load which grew from its normal 600 MW to 1,500 MW. The district needed to find a way to cope with the increase, while still securing the power for regular users. This is why it added a new class, calling it the Evolving Industries Class.

The new class comes with ‘discriminatory’ rates

The new class includes risky industries, especially when it comes to regulatory changes. It also includes those with business operations sustainability risks, as well as those that rely on large amounts of power. Any industry that uses over 5% of the district’s total load would see evaluation.

When it comes to crypto mining, it pretty much sees risks on all fronts. The surges in demand require the district to produce more power, but if the demand drops, the district would remain without customers.

As a result, Evolving Industries will now have to pay increased rates, which includes crypto miners.

Crypto miners’ complaint was just dismissed

Of course, miners attempted to complain against the decision. They filed a complaint on December 19th, 2018. They also claimed that the demand has dropped since 2017, and that the estimates made back then are no longer realistic.

They also claimed that the district’s move violates the commerce clause of the US Constitution. The new class offers a discriminatory rate schedule that is damaging the mining industry. However, the Washington state federal court recently addressed the claims, opting to dismiss the complaint.