Cryptocurrency mining — which relies on cheap, abundant energy to power banks of computers — is expanding in Iowa, with Hardin County considering two new sites.
MiningStore, which in 2019 opened its flagship mining site in Grundy County, is asking Hardin County, in north-central Iowa, to rezone two parcels from agricultural to manufacturing to allow for installation of mining sites next to electrical substations owned by Midland Power Cooperative.
“This is kind of a new thing, not like a restaurant or a commercial facility,” said Hardin County Supervisor BJ Hoffman.
The Grundy County site has a large Quonset hut humming with fans that cool more than 1,000 computers that work round the clock to solve math problems that create bitcoin, the world’s most well-known cryptocurrency. As each new block of bitcoin is solved, mining operations like this get a payout.
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The Hardin County sites, if approved, would be smaller with vented crates that contain servers.
MiningStore founder and Chief Executive Officer JP Baric, 25, of North Carolina, spoke earlier this month to the Hardin County Board of Supervisors. The county’s Planning & Zoning Commission will consider his proposal Jan. 24 and then make a recommendation to the supervisors.
Cryptocurrency mining has raised concerns in Iowa and elsewhere because of how much electricity it uses. The White House reported in August the global electricity use for crypto mining was between 120 billion and 240 billion kilowatt-hours per year, which is more than the total annual electricity use of some countries including Argentina and Australia. This surge in demand is happening as the world is trying to reduce electricity consumption…
