Crypto mining is hurting Pend Oreille County economically

Crypto mining is hurting Pend Oreille County. Like every other rural community targeted for exploitation by foreign crypto companies, the economic benefits promised to Pend Oreille County have proven to be as tangible as Ethereum. Meanwhile, local bitcoin mining has become a vice crushing the future prosperity of our county.

First, the crypto mines in Usk and along the Highway2 corridor have maxed out the existing power infrastructure preventing any other potential uses for significant manufacturing or industrial development. 

Second, converting the former PNC mill into a crypto mining facility is drastically shrinking county tax revenues with nascent consequences for the county’s budget. Crypto Bro claims of large tax payouts always omit that very few of those tax dollars are for Pend Oreille County. The conversion of former PNC Mill into a massive crypto mining facility has destroyed the value of the site. Two years ago, the PNC mill site's owners paid almost $600,000 in property taxes. This year the owners will pay 76% less ($145,000) at a time when everyone else is paying higher property taxes. In 2022 the county received only a fifth of the Sales and Use Taxes than the market value of machinery operating in Usk facility should have required. Furthermore, the approximately $600,000 received by the county was a one-time payment unlikely to be repeated in future years.

So the county can look forward to a net reduction of $450,000 a year going forward thanks to our commitment to crypto, which will quickly translate into reduced employment and services.

Finally, crypto mining has added very few jobs. The Usk facility employs around a dozen personnel split between Allrise and Bitmain (although they sometimes add a number of poorly paid “as-needed” part-time employees to their publicly reported employee count.)

In hindsight, almost any other alternative use of the former PNC Mill would have created more economic potential for our county. 

Perhaps the financial challenges facing the Bitmain/Allrise's Bitcoin mine in Usk (POC Cryptonomics - PROTECT PEND OREILLE) and a potential plan to sell the facility seemly leaked by Crypto Commissioner John Gentle (Did County Commissioner John Gentle just leak Allrise/Bitmain’s plan to sell the former PNC mill? - PROTECT PEND OREILLE) will clear the obstacles to real economic growth that Bitcon has brought to our County.