Watch out Canada! New York wants a piece of the bitcoin mining market, securing for its residents revenues and jobs that come along with the electricity intensive process. Bitcoin mining might even help revive local economies that once relied on polluting industries.
The New York Power Authority has approved the allocation of 15,000 kilowatts of hydroelectric power to a new bitcoin mining venture by Coinmint, the North Country Data Center Corp (NCDC), pending the approval of a contract within a year. Coinmint, which currently operates a bitcoin mining facility in Plattsburgh, expects that the cryptocurrency market will continue to grow worldwide and thus seeks to expand its business to a second facility.
According to the proposal plan, the power allocation would support capital investment of at least $165 million and the creation of 150 new jobs in connection with the proposed project. The plan will involve renovating a former metal smelting facility in Massena, and the installation and operation of up to 180,000 specialized bitcoin mining systems within two years. Once complete and fully operational, the NCDC expects to handle 15 percent of the global cryptocurrency business.
Cheap Reliable Power
According to a local TV news report, the main reason for the bitcoin mining business to come to the area is that it can offer cheap and reliable electricity. The New York Power Authority works to leverage the value of hydropower to improve the local economy, and among the factors it considers when evaluating a request is the number of jobs created as a result of the allocation.
The new bitcoin mining facility is planned to operate around the clock, and NCDC indicates it would hire 75 full-time employees in 2018 and 75 in 2019 for a total minimum employment force of 150 employees. The jobs would include security personnel, IT technicians, electricians, installers and operational staff, with an average wage of $46,000.
The proposed location for the new mining complex is just south of Canada, whose cold climate and cheap hydroelectric power are a major attraction for Chinese bitcoin miners.