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Publicly, Merkle Standard claims it is committed to clean energy and reducing carbon emissions. Privately, not so much.
As legislation targeting environmentally harmful bitcoin mining in the state sailed through the state legislature, Bitmain/Allrise's joint venture bitcoin mining facilities remained defiant over refusing to purchase clean energy for their voracious bitcoin computers. Public records show that as the State Senate was considering HB1416, our PUD asked Bitmain/Allrise (also known by the names of the subsidiary LLCs as Merkle Standard or Cascade Digital Mining, among other names) if they wanted to reconsider their zero clean energy policy. In a letter dated March 20 from PUD Interim General Manager April Owen to Cascade Digital Mining’s Steve Wood: “Further, while the District understands that Cascade is not requesting that any of its power be supplied from specified or carbon-free resources, please let us know if your view on this changes and if you would like the District to explore options for such power.” Wood responded, “Regarding specified source or carbon free power, we need to be clear on this. … [W]e do not request the District to acquire carbon free resources outside the District’s CETA obligations, solely to serve Cascade unless such resources are in the form of Box Canyon hydro, Boundary hydro allocation or displacement relating to BPA net requirement power allocations.” In other words, Bitmain/Allrise are unwilling to pay for clean energy but are demanding that our PUD turn over the inexpensive clean energy it provides to the rest of its 9,600 industrial, commercial, and residential customers to them. Make everyone else pay more for clean energy on the market. Bitmain/Allrise's 100MW bitcoin mining facility in Usk, WA, is the largest bitcoin facility west of Texas. Unlike many other bitcoin mining facilities in other parts of the country, Washington's energy market gives Bitmain/Allrise a choice to purchase clean energy, but they refuse to pay the small additional amount (less than half a cent per kilowatt hour) for source-specified clean energy (electricity from certified clean energy sources like hydro, wind, or solar). Last month the New York Times reported that Merkle Standard emits over half a million tons of carbon dioxide a year. In reality the amount is much higher since the New York Times assumed it was using a higher proportion of renewable power, unaware that the managers of the Usk facility have refused to pay for any clean energy. According to the data provided by the NY Times, this puts Merkle Standard among the top ten carbon-emitting bitcoin facilities in the country. The Real-World Costs of the Digital Race for Bitcoin - The New York Times (nytimes.com) To put that in perspective, even using the Times underestimate, they emit the same amount of carbon dioxide as driving 1.3 BILLION miles or powering over 100,000 homes with fossil fuels for a year. Bitmain/Allrise poor environmental citizenship may have been the motivation for the State Department of Commerce asking that State Legislature to pass HB1416. According to investigative reporter Kaylee Tornay of Investigate West in an article "Washington passes climate goals for crypto and data centers" published last week in the Spokesman-Review, "Proposals in Oregon and Washington to regulate carbon emissions tied to crypto mining and data centers took opposite paths during the 2023 legislative session. "Rep. Beth Doglio, D-Olympia, who sponsored the Washington bill, wanted to close a loophole that some crypto mining operations could exploit, which allows them to buy power on the market from nonrenewable sources if the hydroelectric-powered local utility can’t satisfy their demand." Washington passes climate goals for crypto and data centers | The Spokesman-Review In testimony on House Bill 1416 to the Washington State House of Representatives Energy Committee hearing on January 30, 2023, Glenn Blackmon, energy policy manager for the Washington Office of Energy and the senior energy advisor to the state, when asked “Could you give me an example of what this bill is trying to address?” stated the Allrise/Bitmain crypto mining facility in Usk is the best example. “Under current law, they wouldn’t necessary have to use clean electricity in compliance with CETA…, yet CETA says that all of the electricity that is used by customers in Washington should be clean…” HB1416 was signed into law last week, but its provisions will not go into effect for another year and half. In the meantime, Bitmain/Allrise have signaled their defiance to environmental stewardship and the State's clean energy policy.
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