A Texas Town’s Misery Underscores the Impact of Bitcoin Mines Across the U.S.

[larry_vw_1955]

Every night, the nurse anesthetist Cheryl Shadden lies awake in her home in Granbury, Texas, listening to a nonstop roar. “It’s like sitting on the runway of an airport where jets are taking off, one after another,” she says. “You can't even walk out on your back patio and speak to somebody five feet away and have them hear you at all.”

https://time.com/6590155/bitcoin-mining-noise-texas/

This noise issue is probably even worse than the issue of bitcoin mining's negative impacts on fossil fuel usage. Shame on that company for messing up/interfering with those peoples' lives. Anyone want to live at an airport? You got it.

[ABCbits]

That's disappointing and give Bitcoin more bad reputation. But it's weird the government would give permission to miner to operate near residential area. I wonder if they focused too much about not wasting excess energy. And it's weird the mining company spend $1 to $2 million to build wall which redirect the noise, rather than switch to less noisy cooling solution.

[DaveF]

Every night, the nurse anesthetist Cheryl Shadden lies awake in her home in Granbury, Texas, listening to a nonstop roar. “It’s like sitting on the runway of an airport where jets are taking off, one after another,” she says. “You can't even walk out on your back patio and speak to somebody five feet away and have them hear you at all.”

https://time.com/6590155/bitcoin-mining-noise-texas/

This noise issue is probably even worse than the issue of bitcoin mining's negative impacts on fossil fuel usage. Shame on that company for messing up/interfering with those peoples' lives. Anyone want to live at an airport? You got it.

Things like this have always been an issue in locations that put a larger value on generating money then people.

Lets face it, it's Texas. Where you can spew toxic chemicals and only pay a small fine: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/22/texas-chemical-explosion-port-neches-tpc/

But don't worry when the Texas power grid can't take it again, the people will pay them not to mine: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-bitcoin-miner-riot-31-million-energy-credits/

But spending money to upgrade the power gird so people don't die, nope not in Texas:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/07/21/hurricane-beryl-heat-power-outages-victims-officials/74492331007/

-Dave

[os2sam]

According to their web site they have deactivated a portion of their units, are installing a a Sound Wall barrier and will convert to immersion cooling.  Are those things not true?

When I was a kid my home town built a "community support" race track at the fairgrounds.  Then the community support turned into people complaining about the the noise Stock Car's make.  Sounds like it could be a similar situation.
Sam

[NotFuzzyWarm]

According to their web site they have deactivated a portion of their units, are installing a a Sound Wall barrier and will convert to immersion cooling.  Are those things not true?

When I was a kid my home town built a "community support" race track at the fairgrounds.  Then the community support turned into people complaining about the the noise Stock Car's make.  Sounds like it could be a similar situation.
Sam

Both are very true. Thing is, some posters don't care about truth and cherry-pick their 'facts' to support their trolling.
Cases in point:

But spending money to upgrade the power gird so people don't die, nope not in Texas

False. Their grid IS being massively expanded. The huge wind & solar farms are largely financed by <drum roll please> the mining farms that serve as a huge baseline load for the power being produced. Since you seem to not realize that wind & solar power are a 'use it or lose it' proposition, having mining farms as a baseline load that can be switched on & off is what allows expansion of the power sources.

That brings us to

But don't worry when the Texas power grid can't take it again, the people will pay them not to mine

True but with a caveat: ERCOT pays the farms to curtail their power usage -- so the power can be sent to folks that need it. This is mainly during heat waves. Once the heat drops and the other loads lessen the mines then switch on again. As said earlier, it's not a matter of the grid not being able to 'take it', it's a matter of the designed-in load balancing that has allowed for expanding 'green' power production w/o wasting the power being produced.

[stompix]

Oh, what a surprise, Marathon.
A second surprise:

Wolf Hollow II, the gas plant that supplies the Granbury bitcoin mine

Their grid IS being massively expanded. The huge wind & solar farms are largely financed by <drum roll please> the mining farms that serve as a huge baseline load for the power being produced. Since you seem to not realize that wind & solar power are a 'use it or lose it' proposition, having mining farms as a baseline load that can be switched on & off is what allows expansion of the power sources.

Yeah, we have the same shit happening in Europe now, energy becomes dirt cheap even negative at noon when solar is up and then goes above 80-100 euros per megawatt, but with a slighting different thing, we need somebody to produce it, and ...we will soon have nothing left as we close nuclear we close coal we close gas!
Funny times when they will do the math and see how much we're going to spend on batteries to make this stuff work in winter.

[DaveF]

According to their web site they have deactivated a portion of their units, are installing a a Sound Wall barrier and will convert to immersion cooling.  Are those things not true?

When I was a kid my home town built a "community support" race track at the fairgrounds.  Then the community support turned into people complaining about the the noise Stock Car's make.  Sounds like it could be a similar situation.
Sam

Both are very true. Thing is, some posters don't care about truth and cherry-pick their 'facts' to support their trolling.
Cases in point:

But spending money to upgrade the power gird so people don't die, nope not in Texas

False. Their grid IS being massively expanded. The huge wind & solar farms are largely financed by <drum roll please> the mining farms that serve as a huge baseline load for the power being produced. Since you seem to not realize that wind & solar power are a 'use it or lose it' proposition, having mining farms as a baseline load that can be switched on & off is what allows expansion of the power sources.

That brings us to

But don't worry when the Texas power grid can't take it again, the people will pay them not to mine

True but with a caveat: ERCOT pays the farms to curtail their power usage -- so the power can be sent to folks that need it. This is mainly during heat waves. Once the heat drops and the other loads lessen the mines then switch on again. As said earlier, it's not a matter of the grid not being able to 'take it', it's a matter of the designed-in load balancing that has allowed for expanding 'green' power production w/o wasting the power being produced.

2 Separate issues

1) The amount of power that is generated is NOT the problem for the most part. It's the DISTRIBUTION that needs to be updated. Same issue we had here in NY 12 years ago when Sandy took out power for weeks on end.
The generation facilities were more or less back online in a matter of hours. The downed lines and everything else that was neglected for decades previous had to be fixed and updated. Still going on today in parts of NY. Except during the freeze for the most part in TX the power has been up in TX, the GRID could not handle it. That is still the issue. Fixing NY cost BILLIONS and the population density where it had to be done is a lot more then Houston. So the cost is going to be larger per person in TX then NY and 12 years ago it still was a stupid big number.

2) Yes, ERCOT pays people not to mine so people that need it can get it. BUT, [and a lot of places are guilty of this], you should not allow THAT MUCH more possible power pull then could be generated. ConEd in NY had that. When more and more power was being consumed, they just stopped allowing more people to connect until they had the ability to generate more. Then even went out and gave people LED bulbs and lower power appliances so the amount of power needed was lower when it was approaching limits. If you are an internet provider and oversell your service the speed people get goes down. It's a lot tougher to do that with power.

<shrug>
Still, the sound issue which was the point of the OP still stands, who in the local planning / zoning board let something as noisy as a mining farm get thought.

According to their web site they have deactivated a portion of their units, are installing a a Sound Wall barrier and will convert to immersion cooling.  Are those things not true?

When I was a kid my home town built a "community support" race track at the fairgrounds.  Then the community support turned into people complaining about the the noise Stock Car's make.  Sounds like it could be a similar situation.
Sam

Was it the original people or did the neighborhood demographics change? I have seen that a lot the old people want 'X' and years later when they sell the new people look at 'X' and try to get rid of it because they want 'Y'

-Dave

[os2sam]

1) The amount of power that is generated is NOT the problem for the most part. It's the DISTRIBUTION that needs to be updated.

Well, it looks like power distribution is not a problem here.  A Natural Gas Power Generation facility, literally, next door as well as Hydro and Nuclear in the same area. 

But, yes, our power grid had been maxed out for decades now and is in grave need of updating.
Sam

[os2sam]

According to their web site they have deactivated a portion of their units, are installing a a Sound Wall barrier and will convert to immersion cooling.  Are those things not true?

When I was a kid my home town built a "community support" race track at the fairgrounds.  Then the community support turned into people complaining about the the noise Stock Car's make.  Sounds like it could be a similar situation.
Sam

Was it the original people or did the neighborhood demographics change? I have seen that a lot the old people want 'X' and years later when they sell the new people look at 'X' and try to get rid of it because they want 'Y'

-Dave

Original People.  The track only operated 2 or 3 season's, if I remember correctly.  The neighborhoods were the same people, more or less.

[DaveF]

According to their web site they have deactivated a portion of their units, are installing a a Sound Wall barrier and will convert to immersion cooling.  Are those things not true?

When I was a kid my home town built a "community support" race track at the fairgrounds.  Then the community support turned into people complaining about the the noise Stock Car's make.  Sounds like it could be a similar situation.
Sam

Was it the original people or did the neighborhood demographics change? I have seen that a lot the old people want 'X' and years later when they sell the new people look at 'X' and try to get rid of it because they want 'Y'

-Dave

Original People.  The track only operated 2 or 3 season's, if I remember correctly.  The neighborhoods were the same people, more or less.

Odd, usually it's demographics that change enough to make things list that happen.
Long Island is a prime example.

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/a1706766/last-race/

When it was all farms and a bunch of nothing there were a lot of tracks. Now, 1 is left.

Makes you wonder with things like Formula E https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_E and MotoE https://www.motogp.com/en/motoe such if racing with electric vehicles will be more acceptable to local residents since it is basically silent.

-Dave

[os2sam]

Makes you wonder with things like Formula E https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_E and MotoE https://www.motogp.com/en/motoe such if racing with electric vehicles will be more acceptable to local residents since it is basically silent.

-Dave

Silent Racing??  Hope that never happens.  They would have to install speakers and pipe in the Engine sounds

Kind of like Lucas had to do with the Pod Racers sound effects.

Sam

[larry_vw_1955]

Still, the sound issue which was the point of the OP still stands, who in the local planning / zoning board let something as noisy as a mining farm get thought.

I wanted to know what it sounded like so I did a little google searching on youtube and found this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aWmPzgpv6k

At least this reporter made an effort to show what it sounds like. It sounds like a big buzzing noise!

Question: If the noise is so bad, how do the employees of the mining facility make it through the day? Are they all working remotely or something or maybe they wear huge ear muffs??

[philipma1957]

Makes you wonder with things like Formula E https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_E and MotoE https://www.motogp.com/en/motoe such if racing with electric vehicles will be more acceptable to local residents since it is basically silent.

-Dave

Silent Racing??  Hope that never happens.  They would have to install speakers and pipe in the Engine sounds

Kind of like Lucas had to do with the Pod Racers sound effects.

Sam

why ? a dead quiet racing might be just as cool. you just need a great announcer to call the race.

I lived walking distance to Aqueduct Racetrack In Queens New York.
 I sat high in the seats near the finish line. You could not hear the horses 🏇 galloping,  but the crowd noise and the announcers voice were pretty cool.😎

I used to go the car track on Long Island Islip speedway.

I liked the figure eight races. Twenty laps and exciting. Demo derby was also good.

I go to Wall raceway in Wall NJ it pretty good.

But I don’t go to smell burning fuel and hear engines roar. I go to see a driver bust a balls out move to win a race.

To each their own.

[larry_vw_1955]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0NtMIsVp3w
What's that noise? One of world's largest bitcoin facilities is too loud, VB neighbors say

This one is from 5 years ago. The sound is pretty bad! that's a rude introduction to bitcoin! the upside is that they are constantly reminded that bitcoin exists. and maybe to buy some so they can move the hell out.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Makes you wonder with things like Formula E https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_E and MotoE https://www.motogp.com/en/motoe such if racing with electric vehicles will be more acceptable to local residents since it is basically silent.
-Dave

Silent Racing??  Hope that never happens.  They would have to install speakers and pipe in the Engine sounds

Kind of like Lucas had to do with the Pod Racers sound effects.
Sam

You need to watch some "E class" races on TV be it Formula, moto, or boats... They are definitely not silent but have a fairly loud whine rather like a S9 miner on steroids. Not as loud as un-muffled engines per-se but certainly more annoying.

That said, lookup "racebird" which are the boats used in E1 hydrosport racing - they are gorgeous! https://www.e1series.com/racebird

[ranochigo]

Question: If the noise is so bad, how do the employees of the mining facility make it through the day? Are they all working remotely or something or maybe they wear huge ear muffs??

They do have ear protection. I've seen certain mining facilities where people are required to wear ear protection before entering the farm. This ensures that the employees are not affected by the constant whirring within the facility. This is also mandatory for some datacenters.

Yes, ERCOT pays people not to mine so people that need it can get it. BUT, [and a lot of places are guilty of this], you should not allow THAT MUCH more possible power pull then could be generated. ConEd in NY had that. When more and more power was being consumed, they just stopped allowing more people to connect until they had the ability to generate more. Then even went out and gave people LED bulbs and lower power appliances so the amount of power needed was lower when it was approaching limits. If you are an internet provider and oversell your service the speed people get goes down. It's a lot tougher to do that with power.

This seems to be a big part of why Texans aren't very fond of mining facilities being built there. However, I would argue ERCOT's strategy might not be as friendly to the residents as it seems.

They are offered a preferential rates as compared to the Texans, and that is okay because they consume massive amount but the discount can be quite egregious when you compare to how much the regular citizens are paying. In fact, cryptominers can be paid to not mine. I believe that several sources and financial reports actually highlights how ERCOT's scheme helped them to turn their losses into a profit.[1]

To quote RIOT, they received 49.3 million in manual curtailment credits, $21.9 million in ERCOT's ability to control their load. Latter of which is also given regardless of the fact that they're power down or not. It's not that I agree that utilizing potentially wasted energy to provide to the miners is bad, but I think there are fundamental issues that should've been addressed before. What they can do now is to prove that they're drawing electricity in a sustainable way, but they've successfully filed a court order to prevent that from happening. So much for transparency, and I guess we will never find out now. [2]

Preferential rates without having to pay them millions to stop mining would probably be quite reasonable. I guess that wouldn't attract so many of them.

Still, the sound issue which was the point of the OP still stands, who in the local planning / zoning board let something as noisy as a mining farm get thought.

Probably doesn't matter too much to them, the politicians isn't living there anyways. The state in general is quite pro-crypto.

[1] https://d2ghdaxqb194v2.cloudfront.net/2865/193123.pdf
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/27/crypto-mining-electricity-use

[larry_vw_1955]

They do have ear protection. I've seen certain mining facilities where people are required to wear ear protection before entering the farm. This ensures that the employees are not affected by the constant whirring within the facility. This is also mandatory for some datacenters.

if that's the case then i think they might be lying when they claimed that they were not aware of a noise issue! these huge mining facilities really don't do anything for the communities they locate in. they don't serve them in any way. no products no services. just existing to do computations to make a buck. why these local governments would even allow them to set up shop in the first place is mind boggling.

[ranochigo]

if that's the case then i think they might be lying when they claimed that they were not aware of a noise issue! these huge mining facilities really don't do anything for the communities they locate in. they don't serve them in any way. no products no services. just existing to do computations to make a buck. why these local governments would even allow them to set up shop in the first place is mind boggling.

They probably are aware of the potential issues, but they might not be aware of the extent of the issue. It's hard to gauge unless they actually live near there which is quite rare for people who can actually make a difference.

I don't doubt there are benefits to allowing miners into your state but it has to be moderated well enough to ensure that it benefits the locals more. In this case, I find lots of anecdotal accounts from the Texans about how miners moving into their state hasn't brought any tangible benefits to them; louder noises, no employment opportunities, etc. Hopefully they can be more transparent about their activities can affect the locals and if they have any mitigation measures to address them.

[larry_vw_1955]

They probably are aware of the potential issues, but they might not be aware of the extent of the issue. It's hard to gauge unless they actually live near there which is quite rare for people who can actually make a difference.

all they have to do is take a walk around outside without ear muffs. apparently the noise is deafening. maybe they have hearing damage and that's why they don't notice.

I don't doubt there are benefits to allowing miners into your state but it has to be moderated well enough to ensure that it benefits the locals more. In this case, I find lots of anecdotal accounts from the Texans about how miners moving into their state hasn't brought any tangible benefits to them; louder noises, no employment opportunities, etc. Hopefully they can be more transparent about their activities can affect the locals and if they have any mitigation measures to address them.

it's not a good look for bitcoin that's for sure. none of those locals is probably too enthusiastic about investing in bitcoin. if bitcoin turns whole communities against it here in the usa then that's not going to help it succeed.

[NotATether]

According to their web site they have deactivated a portion of their units, are installing a a Sound Wall barrier and will convert to immersion cooling.  Are those things not true?

There are farms in suburban areas without sound walls??

Always thought this was a generally accepted requirement.