Moscow Resident Ordered to Pay 870,000 Rubles for Illegal Mining Farm Electricity Use

A Moscow resident has been ordered to pay 870,000 rubles ($11,544) for using a preferential residential electricity tariff for her mining farm instead of the required commercial tariff. The court ruled that the woman must pay the difference between the two tariffs.

Illegal power consumption has been an issue in Russia, with Rosseti, the Russian energy company, reporting 35 cases across 20 regions since 2017. The consequences for misusing electricity for mining farms can include legal action and the closure of illegal crypto mining facilities.

Recently, it has been reported that “black” miners in Russia have stolen nearly $6.6 million worth of electricity, underlining the increasing concerns surrounding illicit mining operations throughout the nation.

Bitcoin mining has been known to consume more electricity than many countries. A study by Cambridge University in 2022 revealed that Bitcoin’s energy consumption was equivalent to that of a small country, emphasizing the scale of power consumption in the cryptocurrency mining industry.