The Ministry of Energy proposed introducing discriminatory electricity tariffs for miners. At the “Russian Energy Week” forum, a discussion was held on the topic “Cryptocurrency mining from the point of view of energy workers: regulation or freedom of action,” during which this initiative told Deputy Minister of Energy Pavel Snikkars writes RBC Crypto.
He drew attention to the fact that due to the increase in the number of mining sites in some regions with low tariffs, energy capacities planned for development in the next 4 years were selected in one year. In this regard, it was necessary to introduce restrictions for other consumers, including socially significant ones, Snikkars noted.
He explained that building additional capacity takes time, and the introduction of discriminatory access for a number of consumers, including miners, is the only possible response today to the rate of growth in energy consumption.
At the same time, industry participants did not agree with the position of the Ministry of Energy. Raising tariffs is a path to escalating the problem, said Igor Runets, CEO of BitRiver.
He noted that miners will go “to sites for the population,” and next year a ban on mining in some regions will be discussed. According to Runts, black mining at a tariff for the population has already reached such a scale that it competes with industrial mining.
From the business side, a solution to the problem was proposed by Timofey Semenov, General Director of Intelion Mine. According to him, the key problem is gray mining, and first of all it is worth “separating the impact of gray and white mining on the energy system.”
Industrial mining, operating at commercial rates, according to the speaker, does not have a significant impact on the formation of energy shortages, for example, in the Irkutsk region. Semenov cited data that data centers consume about 60% of electricity, and the remaining 40% of mining consumption occurs at facilities operating at tariffs for the population, including public utility facilities such as boiler houses, water intakes, pumping stations and wastewater treatment plants.
BitRiver, like Intelion Mine, joined the association of industrial miners created earlier in October. The association’s tasks include maintaining a dialogue with authorities, forming a unified position for the industry, developing work practices and legislation, as well as strengthening trust in mining companies.
Source: Cryptocurrency
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