Commissioners of Grant County public utility district in Washington State has unanimously approved of new Rate 17 for the evolving industries according to the statement of utility. The Grant PUD provides services for more than 46,000 customers around the country as per the website statistics. Public utility district (PUD) owned by the community, a non-profit and governed utility serves the community with water, electricity, sewer and telecommunications needs.
The verdict on raising the energy rates on crypto miners constructed after a year of statistical analysis over communities firms and public opinion on the new rate since the initial rate proposal in May at every commission says the utility. They also explained that coming April 1, involving evolving industry firms as well as the country’s cryptocurrency miners would have to pay the first increased and new rate first in three years.
The above-cost electric rate is for protecting the Grand PUD from risks as well as preserving it from below-cost rates for the fundamental customers. As a result, the authorities decided to approve the 50 percent energy hike for crypto miners in Washington State.
Mining is generally as a high-risk business, and it was the time for this decision as an industry falls under Evolving Industry Class according to the risk as the PUD noted. Current time sees all the Grant PUDs involving with the growing industry profile as miners of cryptocurrency including bitcoin which possesses very high energy demands.
The utility further revealed that since 2017 summer the Grant PUD was on the receiving end of service inquiries demanding more than 2,000 megawatts power of energy which is more than thrice the electricity that is needed to run all the Grant county residences, businesses, farms, and industry. As a result, among the total number of requests, 75% of them are from the cryptocurrency miners.
Detailing the statement, Grant PUD also said that Evolving Industry Class (Rate 17) customers would thereby receive a 15% increase the next year and a 35% increase in 2020. As well as there will also be a subsequent 50% increase in the year 2021, whereby there will be a new rate completely in effect. The new customers of the evolving industry will enter at the rate-phase effect at the time of beginning operations.
Now that we know that the 50 percent hike will be subsequent through years make it more tractable and easier to manage every year with rates at the time. In this context, the utility also added that the yearly increase will consider after calculating the difference between what a customer of evolving industry is paying now with the newer target rate.
These calculations of the rate will be the amount per kilowatt hour of the current time and the coming rates. Grant PUD commissioner, Tom Flint, also told the miners attending the meeting that their industry is at high and unregulated risk. So the best way to make sure there is no harsh impact on ratepayers by the business is this decision.