Earlier this month, Boseman made a fuss at the “On the Rise” Economic Summit hosted by Senator Steve Daines and Governor Greg Gianforte. Business leaders from all over the state gathered to share ideas and discuss the challenges that are hindering the economic development of Big Sky Country.
The event also served as a platform for announcing new business development on the horizon, including one project for Lake County. Alongside investor Kevin O’Leary, famous for “Shark Tank,” Gianforte announced. Preliminary plan Potentially partner with Confederated Salish and Kutenai to build a new crypto data center in Polson.
The 50-megawatt data center, led by cryptocurrency mining company Bitzero, will use hydroelectric power from the SKQ dam operated by CSKT company EnergyKeepers Inc. to fulfill its zero-carbon mission.
When asked about the project, CSKT spokesman Shane A. Morigeau Explained discussion It is very preliminary at this point, and the tribal council states that it is doing “due diligence.”
Important details about the project, such as site location, potential employment, infrastructure and community impact, are still thin, so it’s a good idea to ask.
Cryptocurrency mining requires a lot of energy to power a computer processing center.according to Cambridge Bitcoin Power Consumption IndexCryptomining currently consumes approximately 128.5 terawatt hours of electricity each year worldwide. This is the same amount of electricity that Sweden and Argentina consume in a year.
On a regional scale, the Polson data center’s 50 MW usage is about a quarter of the 208 MW produced by the SKQ dam. One megawatt can power about 750 households. That is, the data center uses the same electricity as 37,500 households in northwestern Montana.
Where does the energy lost in the data center come from? It is important to ask questions, especially if the company is promoting its renewable energy mission.
There are also other potential impacts that Lake County residents must consider.
Cryptographic mining is a noisy attempt and requires a huge fan to cool a spinning computer processor that performs complex calculations. Some people describe it as a constant low ham.
Residents of Limestone, Tennessee can tell you everything about it after the new Bitcoin mining company opened a data center there last year.
“We couldn’t get people to the front yard because we could hardly hear each other talking,” said Preston Holly, a house opposite the mine. Washington post For the story earlier this year.
The center is also annoying in the once quiet countryside of the Appalachian Mountains, residents said.
There, a county commissioner told the post that he regretted the vote to allow the mining work.
“It looks like a German prisoner of war camp,” Harris told Post. And it explained that the data center is surrounded by “barriers, cameras and fences covered with razor wires”.
Missoula County faced similar problems with its short-term cryptocurrency mining business in Bonner. Complaints about noise and high energy consumption were common there.
The number of persistent jobs created by these mining operations is also questionable, as managing an autonomous data center usually does not require many workers. For example, the new 100-megawatt data center in Kentucky (twice the size of Polson’s proposal) created only 15 jobs.
Of course, there are better jobs than no jobs, and the economic prosperity of Lake County is certainly important.
But how much does it cost?
As the details of this potential project become clear, it is a question worth considering for the CSKT Tribal Council and the Lake County Commission.
