MASSENA \u2014 Cryptocurrency operations didn\u2019t contribute to the increased electric costs for Massena Electric Department customers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThe answer is no. It\u2019s not affecting the bill,\u201d Massena Electric Department Superintendent Andrew J. McMahon told the Massena Town Board this week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThere is one cryptocurrency operation that Massena Electric feeds and that has no impact on the customer\u2019s bill. They pay all incremental costs for the energy they consume,\u201d he said. \u201cThen, there\u2019s a much larger operation at the old Reynolds plant, the Alcoa East plant. They are buying directly from the grid as I understand it. They haven\u2019t been really clear with us, but their load is much higher than anything we could serve, as I understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Blame the bigger bills on the brutally cold January, Mr. McMahon said. Massena Electric Department customers receive with their bills a list of frequently asked questions, and why the costs increased was one of them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe get those calls all the time. If you look at the FAQ document, midway on the right there\u2019s the history of the PPAC (purchase power adjustment charge) graph,\u201d Mr. McMahon said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
He said the department had a high purchase power adjustment charge in 2014 when winter brought in the polar vortex and the corresponding cold, and that was a repeat this year. Below-zero temperatures were frequent in January.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cIt was just brutally cold this past year. In January we had 20 days below zero as opposed to the previous two years where I think it was four or five days below zero. So, we had a lot of cold weather,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In addition, he said, the Massena Electric Department saw an increase in the price it paid for supplemental power.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThe past few years we have been paying $20 per megawatt for supplemental power. We were paying $100 a megawatt this past January. So, that cost rolls through to the consumer eventually,\u201d Mr. McMahon said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Between the high usage and high prices for power, the department exceeded its allocation from the New York Power Authority.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cIt made for some high bills and we got a lot of calls. Jeff (Dobbins, MED treasurer) and the staff did very well with them,\u201d Mr. McMahon said. \u201cI think it says in the FAQ this wasn\u2019t a localized Massena issue. This was all across the Northeastern U.S. There was really high gas prices from Minnesota to Maine. It was really cold for four or five weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n