The energy companies in Russia have started to hunt for illegal crypto miners who are plying their crypto trade from home. The Deputy Energy Minister, Per Izvestia stated that home–based crypto miners are responsible for changing the load profile of their connections. The crypto mining regulation is yet to be approved by the country’s parliament, and it is expected to pave way for legalized industrial mining by early 2023.
However, the energy providers want the government to prosecute individuals who subsidized “home-rate” electricity to power crypto mining activities. Going further the deputy minister confirmed that power engineers in Irkutsk would analyze load data at power substations to identify such domestic miners..
For every household that is suspected to have crypto mining hardware installed would be sued and have to prove their innocence in the law court. The media outlet indicates that in the given case the courts “as a rule” tend to take the side of the energy companies. However, in other cases, such illegal crypto miners may also be penalized with a new invoice containing the power – charged as per the industrial rates.
In most instances, the energy companies have already fined such crypto miners who use electricity for purposes other than domestic needs.
According to the claim made by Russian energy providers the household that hosts crypto mining rigs can consume upto 40% more power than an average household.
