Like many Northwest utilities, UEC has been approached by cryptocurrency mining operations inquiring about the price and availability of power. The reason these companies consume so much electricity is that producing each new bitcoin requires solving a complex mathematical puzzle by computer.
Under Oregon law, we are obliged to serve any load that is willing to abide by our policies.
For our part, new loads on our system, and expansions by existing members, are responsible for the infrastructure costs of serving them power, often paying in advance for their impact on the system.
This policy helps mitigate risk to the membership, minimizes the impact of growth, and ensures that one sector of our membership does not unfavorably impact the other sectors.
In summary, new operations joining our cooperative will not affect our power availability, overtax our system, or increase your rates.