Power cost is the largest variable in Bitcoin mining economics. It's not the price of the machine. It's not the pool fee. It's not network difficulty. It's the electricity bill — and it compounds every hour, every day, every year. Get power wrong and no amount of hashrate optimization rescues your margins.
The national power rate problem
The average U.S. residential electricity rate is approximately 16¢/kWh. In high-cost states, that number climbs dramatically: Connecticut averages 27¢, California 22¢, New York 20¢. Commercial rates are often lower, but still significantly above what institutional-grade mining facilities pay.
Most home miners and small operations run on 12–18¢ power. Here's what that means for an Antminer S21 Pro — Bitmain's current flagship — running at 3,510 watts:
| Power Rate | State / Context | Monthly Cost (1 miner) | vs. Pursuit Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| From 5.5¢/kWh | Pursuit Link | From $141 | — |
| 12¢/kWh | U.S. commercial avg. | $306 | +$165/mo |
| 16¢/kWh | U.S. residential avg. | $408 | +$267/mo |
| 20¢/kWh | New York | $510 | +$369/mo |
| 22¢/kWh | California | $561 | +$420/mo |
| 27¢/kWh | Connecticut | $688 | +$547/mo |
That's $547 per month, per miner, in savings for a Connecticut miner hosting with us instead of mining at home. Run 20 miners and that's $10,940 per month — $131,280 per year — that stays in your pocket rather than going to your utility company.
Why TVA power is structurally different
Most favorable power arrangements are temporary. Promotional rates. Special economic development programs with clawback provisions. Agreements that expire or reset when the political environment shifts. Operators who build around these arrangements find themselves repriced out of profitability within 18–36 months.
TVA — the Tennessee Valley Authority — is a federal agency created by Congress in 1933. It's not a commercial utility seeking to maximize shareholder return. Its mandate is affordable, reliable power for the Tennessee Valley region. The rate structure Pursuit Link operates under has a 20-year horizon, not a 2-year promotional window.
EPB, Chattanooga's municipal electric utility, has built what's been rated the most advanced smart grid in the United States — 1,100+ self-healing switches that restore power in seconds, not hours. That reliability compounds over time into measurable uptime advantages for hosted miners.
The math across a fleet
At 50 miners (a modest mid-size operation), the annual power savings at Pursuit Link vs. the U.S. commercial average of 12¢/kWh is approximately $100,000. That savings can fund more than 2,000 additional PL Shares at $50 each — effectively growing your mining capacity from the efficiency gain alone.
Power isn't just an operating cost. From 5.5¢/kWh, it's a structural competitive advantage. Every miner you run here is running against a lower cost basis than 95% of your competition.
Enter your current power rate and miner count in our savings calculator.