About 40 miles southwest of Fort Worth, a new threat to compound the state’s power problems may be emerging. Texas is currently the center of the Bitcoin mining world with 10 large facilities, and residents near one mine in Hood County are feeling in the effects in two ways. They’re worried that the cryptocurrency mining will lead to another statewide energy failure. Others? They’re just getting sick.
According to a July 8 report by Time, a Bitcoin mining site in Granbury and recently acquired by Marathon Digital Holdings is causing residents to experience everything from heart palpitations to migraines. The Granbury residents say it’s becoming impossible to live there because of the noises created by the site.
Bitcoin mining is the practice of receiving Bitcoin by solving mathematical puzzles to verify transactions. But each puzzle a miner solves results in about 3.125 bitcoin. So, to keep the Bitcoin flowing, larger mining facilities like the one in Granbury reportedly has 80,000 computers that run day and night. The Granbury facility is 300 megawatts; for comparison, ERCOT said last year that 1 megawatt can power 200 homes.
To keep a facility humming at full steam at all times, a mine has to cool down its machinery. Marathon Digital Holdings’ facility in Granbury installed large, loud fans that produce so much noise that it’s causing nearby residents to claim that they’re suffering from health issues. According to Quartz, residents have found that the facility produces more than 85 decibels (dB) of sound, which can be dangerous over time.
Marathon Digital Holdings wrote to Time that it is working to minimize the noise created at the facility.
“By the end of 2024, we intend to have replaced the majority of air-cooled containers with immersion cooling, with no expansion required,” read the statement to Time. “Initial sound readings on immersion containers indicate favorable results in sound reduction and compliance with all relevant state noise ordinances.”
But Bitcoin mines also take from power grids, potentially posing a risk, and specifically in Texas, which runs on its own system operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and is home to so many facilities. Currently, according to Inside Climate News, Bitcoin mines can draw up to 2,600 megawatts from the grid.
Cryptocurrency leaders say that most mines are using energy that would go to waste, kicking into full gear at night and powering down during the daytime. They also are supposed to slow down operations during high usage periods, including heat waves and winter freeze events. Still, state officials have expressed the need to keep the industry in check while still embracing cryptocurrency mining.
“Texans will ultimately pay the price,” said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a statement after a Senate committee meeting regarding cryptocurrency mining’s energy impact, according to WFAA. “I’m more interested in building the grid to service customers in their homes, apartments, and normal businesses and keeping costs as low as possible for them instead of for very niche industries that have massive power demands and produce few jobs.