The Mechanicville hydroelectric power plant, built in New York in 1897 by the Hudson River Power Transmission company, owned and operated today by Albany Engineering Corp (AEC), has started mining Bitcoin BTC/USD.
What Happened: According to a report from Times Union, a portion of the plant’s energy is being used to mine Bitcoin given that there is “not a lot of profit” in running a plant that uses its original equipment from the 18th century.
"We can actually make more money with bitcoin than selling the electricity to National Grid," said CEO of Albany Engineering Corp, Jim Besha.
Why It Matters: The company gets 3 cents per kilowatt-hour from selling energy to the National Grid.
In comparison, Albany Engineering Corp makes three times as much from mining the leading digital currency.
“It’s the best (type of bitcoin mining) because we’re using renewable energy,” Besha said. “We’re just doing it on the side, experimenting with it. We're buying used servers."
Although mining cryptocurrency has proved to be a lucrative source of income for the power plant, Besha is skeptical of Bitcoin as an asset class and a long-term store of value.
The CEO said he converts the thousandths of a Bitcoin they make each week to cash instead of holding on to it for a longer period of time.
Read also: How to mine cryptocurrency
AEC’s Bitcoin mining operations could, however, be short-lived in light of a new bill approved by the New York Senate last month.
The new law would require all crypto mining operations in the state to be put on hold for three years allowing local authorities to assess their environmental impact.
Price Action: At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $33,805, gaining 0.21% over the past-24 hours.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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