It sounds like something out of science fiction–turning South Dakota natural gas into crypto-currency on the high plains.
The legislature’s Joint Appropriation Committee Wednesday was trying to determine if it is working.
“They were leasing some of these gas mines,” said Representative Chris Karr of Sioux Falls. “And they were using that gas to run generators to run the computers to mine bitcoin, so it’s a different type of mining.”
However, Mike Cornelison of the Office of School and Public Lands, says things haven’t worked out as planned. “However there is interest in some of those Spyglass wells for LP, or liquid propane production,” he said. “We’ll see if that works out.”
The Committee was taking testimony on the Office of School and Public Lands budget. The group didn’t act on the testimony.