When a small mountain town consumes more electricity than 13 similar municipalities combined, someone’s going to notice. Georgia’s government finally did.
Vice Prime Minister Mamuka Mdinaradze announced on June 1 a sweeping initiative to combat illegal cryptocurrency mining in the Svaneti region, with a particular focus on the Mestia municipality. The centerpiece of the plan: a mass installation of electricity meters across every village in the area, backed by law enforcement to ensure compliance.
The numbers tell a stark story
Mestia’s electricity consumption in 2025 reached 133 million kWh. That figure is more than 13 times the consumption of comparable municipalities in Georgia.
The Georgian government estimates that illegal mining operations have been draining between GEL 20 million and GEL 25 million annually from the national energy system.
