Developer outlines 5 MW Bitcoin-mining site, proposes potential 25 MW expansion; addresses water and power concerns

A land agent identifying himself as Charlie for RM Capital Ventures presented a technical overview of a site in West Burlington that is currently operating at roughly 5 megawatts and said the company hopes to expand to 25 megawatts if infrastructure and market conditions allow. Charlie said the current containers are cooled with dry coolers and that the facility has not relied on water so far; he described a wet-cooling worst-case of about 225–350 gallons per year for a specific machine, and broader wet-chiller scenarios that could use millions of gallons if configured differently.

"We're not gonna increase your bills...in fact, in Grudney Center, Iowa, we reduced the cost of electricity by 19% when we set up shop up there," Charlie said while describing how the operator locates facilities near underused local generation. He explained the economics and scale: the existing 5 MW operation uses about 43,000,000 kilowatt-hours a year and the company estimates a build-out to 25 MW would require substantial transmission and substation upgrades (he estimated $15–25 million for utility work and up to $300 million CapEx for the building and site, excluding some equipment). County officials and members of the public pressed the presenter about water permits, evaporative cooling impacts, noise, potential for brownouts, and the reliability of contracts to curtail loads during peak power events; Charlie said the company is contractually obligated to curtail during peak market events and offered to share technical materials and to host site tours for interested officials.