[PragmaticPulp]

"Excess energy" is a myth.

It's 2021, and transmitting energy across the power grid is easier and more efficient than ever before. No one is building hydroelectric dams in the middle of nowhere without a way to transmit that energy to somewhere else. It's still better to send the energy somewhere where they can replace coal-fired power plants than it is to burn it up mining cryptocurrency.

> Bitcoin mining is a great way to monetize energy that has a low market value and would likely go to waste.

It's exceedingly rare for energy to "go to waste".

Miners do not really care about anything other than profit. As long as the profit out of their operations is greater than the cost of electricity going in, the machines will be running.

[londons_explore]

Across most of the world there are at least brief moments when the price of electricity goes negative. It happens because some energy sources cannot quickly be shut down (eg. Nuclear), so it makes financial sense to pay to get rid of electricity for brief periods.

These negative prices don't coincide worldwide, indicating that there is not sufficient electrical transmission capacity.

[bko]

> Miners do not really care about anything other than profit. As long as the profit out of their operations is greater than the cost of electricity going in, the machines will be running.

Exactly my point. That's why they choose the global lowest cost of energy provider. And if you allow the price system to work, this would be the least valuable undesirable energy. Anything else would be uneconomical.

[enragedcacti]

or they just bribe a local official and make profit on what would otherwise be 'desirable' energy.