The city of Brenham in Texas has always been a major crypto mining hub. Many residents have taken to crypto mining as a hobby or as a means of earning extra funds. They do not employ expensive machines or have large warehouses filled with mining rigs to do this. Instead, they just do it out of their own homes, a testament to how loose the city has been with its regulations.
Brenham, Texas Is Scaling Back Crypto Mining Energy Usage
However, it looks like the city of Brenham is going to be scaling back on all mining operations for now after city officials held a meeting to discuss the ongoing energy requirements. It has been decided that Brenham does not have the electricity supplies necessary to continue supporting this growing industry, least of all for large commercial mining enterprises, and thus the grid is going to be limited in its abilities for the next few months.
City planner Shauna Laauwe explained in an interview:
You get three or four (mining machines) in a neighborhood, and suddenly, you’re going to need a substation and more infrastructure, and we just don’t have the [means] to do that.
Garrett Casada is one of many residents of Brenham that mines crypto from home. He says that the machines do require quite a bit of electricity, though he feels that the profits one makes from the process can ultimately help the city purchase more energy supplies. Thus, he is concerned that the limitations on mining are going to hurt the local economy rather than hurt it. He says:
These run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our 800-amp system here in Brenham runs 40 crypto miners, and probably once a month, it’ll pull a bitcoin out of 800 amps. What’s going to happen when everybody has a Tesla in their driveway? What’s going to happen when everybody’s charging their vehicles 24/7?
As it stands, Casada was already approved to conduct mining prior to the new rules implemented by the city. However, he is limited to his operation’s present size. If he ever wants to expand or grow his business by even a slight margin, he will have to abide by the new limitations put in place. He is confident that this can be beneficial, as it opens the mining doors for residents over large commercial mining rigs. Thus, people can benefit on an individual basis.
This Can Help People Over Commercial Enterprises
He commented:
It’s a big step for Brenham to say, ‘Hey look, we’re going to do it, but we’re going to plan it out and be efficient at it,’ so that’s great. Put us in commercial zones. Don’t just ban us though, and that’s what a lot of people are trying to do is just ban cryptocurrency because they’re scared of it. It’s coming. It’s not going away.
Source: https://www.livebitcoinnews.com/brenham-texas-is-scaling-back-energy-for-crypto-mining/