Power outages have become increasingly common in the Irkutsk region of Russia with the city and region consuming levels of electricity that overload the network. Local officials have put the blame on crypto miners who are minting crypto in their homes which means they are now working on ideas to tackle the problem.
Authorities plan to upgrade the capacity of the distribution network in Irkutsk Oblast, raise the tariff for crypto miners, and create special platforms for hosting these activities.
The Irkutsk Electric Grid Company has stated that the consumption in the city of Irkutsk has increased by 108% during 2021, further adding: “Despite the warm weather in November, the load increased by almost 40% compared to last year. The significant loads on the power networks and the growing number of outages are associated with the activities of miners.”
The company highlighted the fact that crypto mining is energy-intensive because the equipment is working non-stop and engineers issued a warning regarding the fact that existing electrical networks in the area were not created for the “industrial” load that it has to deal with now. As a result, the company had to stop the supply for several regions in order to replace the fuses and install power lines that have a higher capacity.
Irkutskenergosbyt stated:
“In Irkutsk, 21 electrical installations suspected of cryptocurrency mining were identified… Mining equipment is installed on balconies, in residential premises and basements of apartment buildings.”
As part of a raid, inspectors discovered over 1,100 cases of “gray” mining in the Irkutsk Oblast in 2021. Irkutskenergosbyt has allegedly filed 85 lawsuits against people who were crypto mining at home. The claims have reached a level of 73.3 million rubles (over $980,000). Nine cases have already been won with the company receiving 18.7 million rubles ($250,000) in compensation.