Oklahoma Bets on Bitcoin Boom, Muskogee Locals Worry About Noise From Crypto Mining

Polaris Technologies mining facility in Muskogee, Ok,(KOKH)

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — Oklahoma lawmakers are betting on bitcoin to bring more jobs to the state, but people living near the crypto mining facilities are seeing their rural backyards turn industrial.

Joe Wilson and his wife bought a home in Muskogee six years ago. He said they anticipated quiet, rural living but their property sits next the the Port of Muskogee’s John T Griffin Industrial Park, making that difficult.

“You can hear it in the mornings when they turn it on,” Wilson said. “It sounds like a dishwasher going off.”

Wilson is talking about the noise from bitcoin miners.

There are dozens of what look like moving containers on the 42-acre property. In each container, there are 180 computers mining data around the clock. Throughout the property, there are about 40,000 computers.

The miners were constructed by Polaris Technologies Inc, a bitcoin mining company.

Polaris invested more than $100 million in 2023 to build the site and bring in dozens of high-paying jobs.

Bitcoin is a form of digital currency that is unregulated by the federal government.

Polaris Chief Technical Officer Jiaxin Ning gives FOX 25 News an exclusive look at the expanding operation.

The noise that Wilson hears comes from the miners’ cooling systems. The thousands of computers are cooled by fans or water, but that can be loud.

Polaris CTO Jiaxin Ning shows the inside of a bitcoin miner in Muskogee, OK (KOKH)

“If you stand maybe like 50 feet away, it doesn’t bother you at all,” Ning said.

During the day, the rumbling is difficult to hear from Wilson’s property. He and some of his neighbors have complaints though.

One neighbor tells us he never hears the machines. Another said it’s most disruptive at night.

“At night when everything is still, you can definitely hear a humming,” one man told us. “I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s not overly loud, it’s just there. It’s annoying. It used to be really quiet out here and now it’s not.”

Ning said the noise is something Polaris plans to address.

“We are sorry if the noise really bothers the neighbors,” Ning said. “After we complete everything, if the neighbors still can hear the noise, we are going to build like a noise cancellation fence or wall to isolate us from them.”

He said Polaris will work with the local government to ensure neighbors are not affected by the operation.

The site is about to become even louder with Polaris doubling its investment in the state. Ning said the company is adding another 40,000 computers and creating more jobs at the Muskogee site.

That also means doubling the amount of electricity used to run the computers.

Polaris is already using 200mw according to Ning.

Following the expansion, the company plans to use 400mw. According to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, that’s equivalent to the energy used by up to 400,000 homes.

For an energy-rich state like Oklahoma, that’s good for the economy according to Alba Weaver, the Director of Community Affairs and Economic Development with OG&E.

Weaver said OG&E offers the third lowest energy rate for US industrial partners.

“It gives us the ability to bring new industry into the state, create jobs, and have further investment into the state of Oklahoma,” Weaver said.

Ning said the power-dense operation is only possible because of electricity infrastructure already in place at the Port of Muskogee industrial site. OG&E built a 1,000mw substation on the industrial site.

Ning credits OG&E and its substation for allowing the industry to exist in the state. Now, Polaris is also looking to build a bitcoin mining site near the Oklahoma-Texas border.

“We have the support from the state,” Ning said.

That support comes partly from HB 3594, known at the Bitcoin Bill of Rights. The law is in effect as of Nov. 1.

Republican Rep. Brian Hill of Mustang authored the bill and said Oklahoma is investing where other states aren’t.

“We are providing the same structure, right, the infrastructure, the bones as what we would any industry in the state,” Hill said. “We want this industry to know Oklahoma is open for business, we appreciate that you are choosing Oklahoma as your home and this is a place that you can thrive.”

Hill said with any growing industry, there will be hiccups, like noise pollution, but the state will learn and adapt. However, Wilson isn’t sure if he and his wife will be able to adapt the same way.

“If more starts going in, especially like that back there, I think it’s time to move,” Wilson said.

Bitcoin and its full economic impact on the state is still unknown.

The Port of Muskogee Director Kimbra Scott said in a statement, “Although it’s still early to measure the full financial impact on the local economy, this investment is already generating job opportunities in an emerging industry.”

A spokesperson for the Port of Muskogee said there has also been significant interest in the property not only from Bitcoin data centers but also from the cloud computing and AI industries.