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by Mike Irwin Dec. 19, 2017, 2:04 pm
WENATCHEE — Seems like everybody wants a piece of the bitcoin action now that the crypto-currency’s value hovers at around $20,000.
And the Chelan County PUD is feeling the pinch.
District managers said Monday that a surge in inquiries for low-cost power from bitcoin operators is stressing staff resources and striking at the heart of the PUD principle to provide long-term quality service to its customer-owners.
The unprecedented increase in high density load (HDL) inquiries is putting a strain on the district’s ability to provide “the best for the most for the longest,” John Stoll, the district’s customer utilities managing director, told PUD commissioners.
Stoll explained that during the past two years the market value for bitcoin — a digital currency — has skyrocketed from $300 to just under $20,000. Bitcoin miners, creators of the currency, require large amounts of power to maintain arrays of computers for their bitcoin operations.
The Chelan PUD, a supplier of some of the lowest-cost power in the nation, is an attractive location for bitcoin operations — so much so that in 2015 the PUD developed policies, fees and rates to keep a handle on bitcoin operations of up to 5 megawatts. Anything larger would require a formal power contract that could require buying power for the customer on the open market.
“Now that the cryto-currency market is so attractive, the Chelan PUD is seeing dramatically increasing interest by bitcoin miners for much larger loads,” said Stoll. “The power needs are significant.”
Chelan County’s average retail power load is around 200 megawatts. A winter peak of 491 megawatts set in January 2017 was primarily due to cold weather power use, not bitcoin operations, said a PUD press release.
But in recent months, the PUD has received four inquires for 100 megawatts or more, each of which will require detailed study if a formal application is submitted, said Stoll. Additionally, multiple inquiries in the 10 to 50 megawatt range have been received, along with ongoing interest in small “hobby” connections.
In comparison, a recent expansion of Oath’s (Yahoo) server farm in Quincy will require 25 megawatts with a possibility of peaking in the future at 40 megawatts, according to online industry trade journal Data Center Knowledge.
At the same time, PUD staff are seeing unpermitted HDLs — labeled “rogue operators” by the PUD — in residential neighborhoods that require immediate attention to identify, evaluate and install proper services for safety and reliability.
Stoll said those rogue operations are usually discovered when household electric meters show a spike in power usage. The PUD is finding about two of these operations a week, said Stoll.
Stoll said the increase in HDL inquiries and the staff time needed to address them could affect “PUD values of operational excellence, trustworthiness, safety and stewardship.”
Initial assessment of large HDL inquiries may require just a team of three or four personnel, he said. But further assessment would require a larger team of engineers and managers to assess or design transmission lines, substations and other infrastructure.
For now, he said, the PUD staff plans to:
-Continue to process existing service applications for which forms have been completed and engineering fees paid.
-Answer inquiries on HDL service or large-load opportunities after a “power inquire form” has been completed.
-Respond to those wishing to know about power availability at their location after a service application is completed.
-Reserve pre-application meetings for those who have completed all application materials but have technical questions before associated fees are assessed.
1 Bitcoin equals
14618.97 US Dollar
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/01/11/wenatchee-wash…
Why one small Washington town has seen so many bitcoin miners move in
Michelle Caruso-Cabrera | Ritika Shah
Published 18 Hours Ago Updated 17 Hours Ago
CNBC.com
Low-cost electricity has brought dozens of bitcoin miners to the small town of Wenatchee, Washington.
Cool temperatures also help keep the necessary servers at the right temperature.
A small town three hours east of Seattle is turning into the epicenter of bitcoin mining in the United States.
Wenatchee, Washington is home to a dozen of the largest bitcoin and cryptocurrency miners in the country. And the head of the local power utility, Steve Wright, says another 75 have inquired about coming here since the price of bitcoin surged in December.
"We've come from just a few people out there who have been knocking on the door all of a sudden to people who are banging on the door pretty loudly," Wright said.
Malachi Salcido is one of the area's earliest miners. He runs 3 mining operations in the area, producing 5 to 7 bitcoins per day.
Salcido uses 7.5 megawatts of power — enough to power 11,000 homes. He wants to produce 50 bitcoins per day by July, which would require a whopping 42 megawatts of power.
That's why he's in Wenatchee: Power is extremely cheap — between 2 to 3 cents per kilowatt hour.
The reason? A series of dams on the Columbia River provide abundant hydroelectric power.
But it's not just the cheap power. Cooler temperatures help keep the servers at the right temperature. And for a small town Wenatchee has great internet capacity.
"So we have not only low-cost electricity but also very good access to internet," says Wright. "People put those two together and think 'opportunity for bitcoin'."
The deluge of wannabe miners has the utility regulator worried.
"What we don't want is people who come here to make a quick buck off of our low-cost electricity and then leave town and leave us holding the bag, and leave the people of this community holding the bag," Wright said.
Despite the low-cost electricity, Salcido says his monthly electric bills top $100,000.
But to him, the cost is worth it.
"We mine bitcoin because bitcoin blockchain is becoming the cashless, peer-to-peer payment settlement system of the future," Salcido said.
"This is a true peer-to-peer settlement tech that once it's mature is going to significantly disrupt these existing markets and it's going to make new direct purchase options available that there are not tech options available currently on the market," he said.
© 2018 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved. A Division of NBCUniversal
I invested a modest amount into ETH because I was, and still am, very excited about that particular curriency's technological potential.
I don't want to give the impression that I'm up a "life changing" amount, but the +$400% increase has turned my initial investment into a nice looking pile.
The whole experience of trying to learn about blockchain technology and trading in general has been a pretty engaging experience. I think there's for sure a decent chance that my gains will eventually be wiped out, but no matter what I'll be walking away with a significantly enhanced knowledge of investing, trading, and taxes.
Lastly, I've taken some of my profits and invested them into another token, built off of the ETH chain, called FUN FAIR (FUN). It's a token that's being marketed to online gambling websites. They seem to have a "great development team" (which is some shit I hear a lot in the crypto world), and a product that I believe has some potential.
To me it sounds similar to Pokemon Go, although there isn't an infinite number of each character to collect and instead of walking and driving to find the tokens, you set a machine to try to find them and then perform feats of mathematical skill to receive an award.
Right now bitcoin seems a little bit like tokens won in a video game that are currently worth something because their are some collectors out there.
1 Bitcoin equals
10414.15 US Dollar
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BTC-USD/
This week's BTC drop appears to me to be related to the first batch of CME bitcoin futures expiring on January 26.
i dont think this is the end of the cryptos just yet, but we will see.
Pit Row
Personally I like to find good projects that are still under $.05. If you throw a grand at a project that’s $.02, you have 50,000 units. If it reaches a dollar that’s $49k profit. At this point it’s much more likely that you will make money in the smaller Alt coins going to a dollar than buying bitcoin and hoping it makes it to $100k.
Thanks FolkLoar.
What exchange are you getting DBC? I'm not on any of the ones listed so curious which you use.
Without any sort of backing, it seems just as likely that the bottom could fall out. As opposed to government backed currency, it isn't legal tender and doesn't hold at least that minimal value of being mandated to be accepted as payment.
For Ethereum, I also believe that there is a bit of value just from being one of the first big cryptos. It’s easy to buy in and trade with Ethereum because it’s been around and is more available.
Honestly, there’s a lot about Ethereum’s capabilities and uses going forward that I can’t wrap my head around much less put into words, but there’s a lot of good info from guys way smarter than me out there.
There’s a guy that started doing YouTube videos named Doug Polk. He’s a professional poker player that’s also into cryptos. Smart dude, with a lot of good info and not out here hyping coins like most idiots on YouTube. Not sure that he has any videos about Ethereum specifically, but that’s a good place to start for general info. There’s a LOT of obvious unfounded propaganda against cryptos right now, and also a BUNCH of “crypto people” that are absolute morons. I’ve found you have to block out both sides and do your own research. Kinda like politics.
However, Ethereum also permits developers to build decentralized apps on top of its blockchain technology. The more apps are built, the more valuable the Ether becomes.
Take a look at the list of companies currently working to integrate smart contracts into their business: https://entethalliance.org/members/
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