Irkutsk: Electricity for cryptocurrency miners will rise in price

"Irkutskenergosbyt", supplying electricity to the Irkutsk region, filed 85 claims against the owners of crypto farms in private houses. The company accused them of engaged in entrepreneurial activities, and pay for electricity to tariffs for residents - four times less. It is reported by Kommersant.

The total amount of claims amounted to 73.3 million rubles. In nine cases, the company won the courts: miners will have to start paying for electricity at tariffs for enterprises and returning the company a total of 18.7 million rubles after recalculation of the tariff.

The Irkutsk region is considered the most profitable place for mining cryptocurrency in Russia, since here the lowest prices for electricity. Electricity needs crypto farms for the operation of computing equipment and cooling systems. In rural areas, electricity costs 0.86 rubles per 1 kilowatts per hour for residents and 3.6 rubles for small enterprises.

Over the past year, Irkutskenergosbyt discovered more than a thousand cases of mining in the region. Crypto fees can damage energy supply and lead to accidents - they use too much electricity.

For the same reason, Irkutskenergosbyt finds them. For example, a mining farm in the village of Plishkino - a small house - spent about a quarter of energy from the entire village.

• Now power engineers have to prove through the court that miners are engaged in commercial activities. The regional governor in October proposed legislatively recognizing mining and selling electricity to miners at an increased tariff.
• In 2021, in the Irkutsk region, the population began to consume 2.5 times more electricity due to the large number of underground mining farms.

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