Norwegian town wants 'noisy' Bitcoin miners out, experts respond

cointelegraph.com:

There's a new Bitcoin (BTC) energy FUD in town: noise. In Sortland, a Norwegian municipality, locals are waging war on Bitcoin miners to thwart further BTC mining developments. Their latest protest against proof-of-work (PoW) mining is that it's loud. 

It’s not enough that Bitcoin miners in Sortland use 100% renewable energy sources, create jobs and even use waste heat from the PoW process to dry out timber and seaweed for local businesses; they must do so quietly.

Kjetil Hove Pettersen, CEO at local KryptoVault, explained that it could be another case of media spin aiming at Bitcoin. He explained the situation to Cointelegraph:

Pettersen detailed that grid owners are, in fact, happy to host Bitcoin miners–as Bitcoin miners help to balance grids (as recently shown in Texas)–and that "There is a political or social cost for being outspoken about that in today's climate." The false narratives that media create are not new, according to Pettersen:

Arcane Research analyst Jaran Mellerud and regular Cointelegraph contributor explained: “Northern Norway has a massive electricity surplus due to little local demand and limited transmission capacity.” In the north of Norway, where Sortland is located, energy costs are very low, and stranded hydropower is, in fact, abundant.

Pettersen listed the benefits of Bitcoin mining as adding more revenue to local municipalities' power grids while supporting grid balance; lowering the overall grid fees for consumers; creating jobs; earning income for the Norwegian treasury as Bitcoin miners pay taxes and finally, contributing to Norway’s national trade balance. That’s without mentioning the direct consequence of Bitcoin mining, securing the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

Pettersen conceded