If you are concerned about rising electricity costs, consider attending the meeting of the Port of Walla Walla commissioners at the airport at 6 p.m. Thursday. The commissioners will be holding a second hearing on whether or not to lease/sell land in western Walla Walla County to AntCreek LLC, a company that would locate a huge computer warehouse for cryptocurrency mining.
The staff report of the Port proposes that it lease with an option to purchase an initial 10 acres, plus 30 acres in the future. Port expenses include $140,000 for engineering and design, and $300,000 for extension of water. The commissioners consider a benefit the road that the would-be occupant of this property will build from U.S. Highway 12 at a cost of $2.5 million. This reminds me of the “bridge-to-nowhere” across the Mississippi River, which for some time after its construction ended in a Louisiana swamp.
The Port commissioners do not seem to be aware of the consequences of cryptocurrency mining. (One erroneously said that the computers could be used to cure cancer.) The computers will not be used for any purpose other than to make money. Computers used for Bitcoin mining are specifically designed to solve meaningless math puzzles in the hopes of generating more Bitcoins. I consider bitcoin mining to be legalized gambling. Cryptocurrency is used for criminal activities such as money laundering.
When told that these computers will cause additional climate warming, one commissioner stated that most of the electricity here is generated by dams. Pacific Power, the chief provider of electricity in this area, makes more than three-quarters of its electricity from fossil fuels: 62.97 percent from coal and 14.72 percent from natural gas.
The main reason why this Bitcoin mining company wants to lease/buy land from the Port is because this property is immediately adjacent to a Columbia REA substation that can provide enormous amounts of electricity. The sources of Columbia REA’s electricity are 86.75 percent hydro, 11.15 percent nuclear and only 1.23 percent coal.
The grids of Pacific Power and Columbia REA are intertied; in fact, almost all electricity produced and used in North America flows through the U.S. power transmission grid. Demands placed on one portion of the grid may be supplied from anywhere else on the grid. Commodity prices are generally determined by supply and demand, so when Bitcoin mining companies demand lots of power, prices will rise, electric bills will go up and more electricity will need to be generated, much of it by burning dirty coal.
When told that this single company would use the equivalent of about 15 percent of the electricity generated by the nearest dam, Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River, at least one commissioner was skeptical.
The installed generating capacity of Ice Harbor Dam is 603 megawatts, with an overload capacity of 693 megawatts. (Overload may result in breakdown of equipment.) Because the discharge of the Snake River is not large enough throughout the year to run all six generators, the dam operates at approximately 30 percent efficiency, meaning that its average power generation may be less than 200 megawatts.
The initial power requirement of the first Bitcoin mining company that wants to come to Walla Walla County is believed to be 30 megawatts (15 percent of the power generation of a Snake River dam.) Thirty megawatts is enough electricity for 24,000 homes.
The amount of power required for cryptocurrency mining increases logarithmically. If AntCreek LLC expands its operations from 10 acres to the adjacent 30 acres, its power requirements may be 120 megawatts.
One Bitcoin company wants to raise $5 billion to build 2,000 megawatts of additional mining capacity. That is enough electricity for two-thirds of Los Angeles.
Cryptocurrency mining, which generates few jobs, is a dangerous business model that makes a product of highly questionable and unpredictable value and contributes nothing for the good of the Earth or humanity. Allowing AntCreek LLC to operate here could open the floodgates to cryptocurrency miners.
Chelan County PUD was overwhelmed by Bitcoin miners, and has shut down 22 unauthorized operations. To the energy requirements of the cryptocurrency mining computers, add the electricity for the cooling fans and/or air conditioners, and the jet fuel for the private planes of the self-indulgent barons, almost all from out-of-state, and many from overseas. Add more infrastructure, like power lines.
Bitcoin mining companies have been stopped by Enel, the largest European power company. Hydro-Québec, the major Canadian electricity producer, and smaller utilities in upstate New York and Eastern Washington are determined to stop selling electricity to Bitcoin miners.
Walla Walla, are we going to be sucked in?
Bob Carson, professor of Geology and Environmental Studies Emeritus at Whitman College, has been teaching about energy for more than a quarter-century. Earlier, he was a geologist for Texaco Inc. and for the Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources. Owner of three photovoltaic arrays, he frequently leads field trips to coal mines, thermal power plants, dams and wind farms.
