Kjell-Børge Freiberg, the mayor of Hadsel in Norway , told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) last week (13th) that the noise from the Bitcoin mining center has affected the quality of life of many residents in Hadsel. Therefore, at the request of the local government, the Bitcoin mine was closed on September 9.
Residential electricity bills are 20% more expensive?
However, according to Cointelegraph, what residents may not expect is that the closure of the local Bitcoin mine may cause the city of Hadsel to increase its electricity bill by 20% to make up for the increased cost of the power company due to loss of revenue.
It is understood that the mine consumes approximately 80 gigawatt hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 3,200 households, while the city has a population of approximately 8,236 people. The mayor said the local government would look for new projects to make up for the reduced demand for electricity after the mine closed.
Robin Jakobsen, Noranet Network Manager said:
When such a large number of commercial users stop using electricity overnight, there are bound to be consequences. He estimated that after adjustments, the average Hassell household could pay about the equivalent of $235 to $280 more per year.
Climate technology venture capitalist Daniel Batten commented at the press conference: “When politicians hype Bitcoin, it is ordinary people who suffer.” He also believes:
This is another example of how Bitcoin mining can help ordinary people lower their electricity bills.
Noise complaints at Norwegian Bitcoin mine
In fact, this is not the first town in Norway to have noise complaints caused by Bitcoin mining facilities.
In September 2022, residents of the Norwegian city of Svalbard also expressed dissatisfaction with the noise from Bitcoin mining activities. Kjetil Hove Pettersen, CEO of KryptoVault, pointed out that this may be another wave of media hype about Bitcoin, and said that "negative voices are usually more likely to attract media attention, but this does not represent the opinions of all residents."
In 2018, DongZu also reported that KryptoVault (a Norwegian crypto mining company) even received death threats after local newspapers reported on its business.
