The crypto industry has scored another first, as a junior U.S. Senator from Montana, Steve Daines, has lobbied against the planned closure of a coal-fired power plant in Rosebud County, arguing that its closure could harm the growing cryptocurrency mining industry in the state.According to reports, the Colstrip coal plant in Rosebud County is scheduled to shutdown by 2027 as State and Federal governments in the U.S. look to transition toward clean and renewable energy sources.Unusual SituationElsewhere in North America and around the world, crypto mining generally takes place where cheap power is available, which is the case in Montana, but with one key difference: most other crypto mining hubs with access to affordable electricity make use of renewable energy. Indeed, mining ventures have increasingly flocked to sources of renewable energy in an effort to generate greater profit, as is the case in Scandinavian countries, which make use of hydroelectric and geothermal energy, or America’s Pacific seaboard and China’s Sichuan mountain region.In Montana, however, vast coal deposits and several coal-fired power plants supply an abundance of cheap electricity, and this has attracted a growing number of mining farms to the area. According to Senator Daines, this should be encouraged and not stifled, as bitcoin mining is one of the few growth industries with immediate, long-term prospects in the state.Speakin...
