If you are going to forego energy neutrality, why stop with the bitcoin miners? Could they charge controversial businesses like adult entertainment more as well?
Since they sell excess above local prices, all local usage drives up local prices.
Since they sell excess above local prices, all local usage drives up local prices.
This would be different though, targeting a business to pay more than other commercial enterprises. That's a targeted disincentive, and if not structured generically and applied fairly it's bad policy. Seems hardly different than Comcast deliberately slowing Netflix down, not to extract revenue, but to put them out of business.
In this case, due to the fact that by taking the town's total usage up, they raise the costs for everyone in the town, you could also just see as internalizing an externality.