Greenidge Generation, an Upstate New York power plant, uses the electricity it generates to mine Bitcoins. They have almost 7,000 crypto mining machines that mine $50,000 worth of the coins every day.
Greenidge was a coal plant built back in 1937, however, it was converted to use natural gas to produce electricity and operate a server farm in 2017. Private-equity firm, Atlas Holding LLC, which operates Greenidge Generation, says the low-cost power behind the meter makes it possible to power the crypto mining machines year-round. Even with the expected halvening in May, the mining will be a money-making endeavor. Some counties have discouraged crypto mining by raising electricity rates, but this can’t happen to Greenidge. It also gives them an edge over other miners since having their reward cut in half won’t affect the power plant as much as it will mining operations that pay full price for electricity.
Greenidge Generation is the largest bitcoin mining operation in the U.S. and it makes our country as a serious contender to China, which controls most of the world’s crypto mining operations. Supposedly, Chinese mining operates are moving to the U.S. and Canada to take advantage of lower electricity rates and more space to operate.
Greenidge used to operate only in times of peak demand, but now the 65,000-square-foot facility operates year-round. This means more people that live in or near the town of Dresden will work in the Spring and Fall, the non-peak seasons.
Critics worry that mining concentration, which is is inevitable because of halvings and rising costs, will harm the system. Bitcoin has never relied on widely distributed mining power. Anything a major mining party does to attack the system would only cause the value of their bitcoins to fall. Miners with the most hash power stands to lose the most by not playing by the rules.
Further Reading: https://www.coindesk.com/a-new-york-power-plant-is-mining-50k-worth-of-bitcoin-a-day
