Tomskvodokanal’s Covert Mining Farm Disrupts Neighborhood and Bypasses Utility Costs 

Tomskvodokanal, a water utility company, has admitted to hosting a cryptocurrency mining farm on its municipal water intake site. This move was made after a recent purchase of the site for nearly 200 million rubles. The noise from the operation has been causing sleepless nights for local residents, according to mk.

Interestingly, the crypto mining equipment is powered by modern gas-piston generators initially acquired to produce heat. The clever disguise allows the cost of electricity for crypto mining to be masked as heat consumption by the community. The mining farm comprises one thousand S19 miners for Bitcoin and one hundred L7 miners for Litecoin. According to the experts from the “People’s Front,” who discovered the farm, the mining activities earn the owners up to 800,000 rubles per day.

This is not an isolated incident. In 2022, another major mining farm was found in the Makhachkalavodokanal territory. The discovery led to a hefty bill from “Rosseti” for electricity consumption amounting to 26 million rubles. Due to Russia‘s low electricity costs, many see crypto mining as an attractive, albeit controversial, income stream. Although utilities could technically use mining profits for equipment repairs, they usually funnel the money elsewhere and seek state budget funds for modernization.

These cases raise ethical and legal questions, as well as concerns over community well-being. Noise pollution and potential utility fraud are the immediate impacts.