The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged two high-ranking employees of the Patterson Unified School District with operating a cryptocurrency mining operation within 10 of the district’s schools. They were accused of utilizing school resources and incurring significant electricity costs.
According to the DoJ, Jeffrey Menge, assistant superintendent and chief business officer of the Patterson Joint Unified School District, and Eric Drabert, the district’s IT director, collaborated to establish a cryptocurrency mining farm on school property. Afterwards, they transferred all mined cryptocurrency to their personal cryptocurrency wallet.
The pair reportedly purchased high-end graphics cards and used other school district assets and electricity to run a cryptocurrency mining farm. However, the statement did not specify how many schools in the district participated in the effort. The district consists of 10 schools serving approximately 6,200 students. Additionally, the type of cryptocurrency mined was not disclosed.
The most commonly mined cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Monero, Ravencoin (RVN), and Dogecoin. To put things in perspective, mining a single Bitcoin as a solo miner requires approximately 266,000 kWh. This corresponds to 7 years of continuous mining with a monthly electricity consumption of 143 kWh.
In addition to the alleged cryptocurrency mining activities, the DoJ alleges that Menge embezzled $1 million to $1.5 million and Drabert stole $250,000 to $300,000 during the scheme.
This development coincides with a recent crackdown by U.S. energy regulators on cryptocurrency miners in an effort to reduce energy waste across the country. On February 1, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) required cryptocurrency miners to report their energy consumption for the next six months. The move comes amid concerns over a surge in Bitcoin prices leading to widespread cryptocurrency mining activity.
Additionally, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced that it would begin a survey to measure the electricity usage of local cryptocurrency miners. Miners are obliged to provide details related to their energy use.
This heightened scrutiny of the energy consumption of cryptocurrency mining is not limited to the United States, as regulators around the world are taking steps to control excessive electricity use. In December 2023, Indonesian police authorities shut down 10 Bitcoin mining operations after the organizers accused them of stealing electricity worth about $1 million.