If it's any comfort, electricity isn't all the same. It's more valuable if generated at the right place at the right time.
At some point, after hardware improvements plateau and competition heats up even more, this turns into a competition to find the cheapest electricity. In a ideal electricity market, this should be surplus electricity that's not used for any other purpose yet (wind farm not yet connected to the grid). Or perhaps generating bitcoin as a byproduct of electric heating? Any better use for electricity should result in higher prices that make Bitcoin mining unprofitable.
But before that happens, the electricity market would have to get a lot more rational, and externalities need to be fixed. For example, carbon pricing would ensure that bitcoin mining only uses clean power.
At some point, after hardware improvements plateau and competition heats up even more, this turns into a competition to find the cheapest electricity. In a ideal electricity market, this should be surplus electricity that's not used for any other purpose yet (wind farm not yet connected to the grid). Or perhaps generating bitcoin as a byproduct of electric heating? Any better use for electricity should result in higher prices that make Bitcoin mining unprofitable.
But before that happens, the electricity market would have to get a lot more rational, and externalities need to be fixed. For example, carbon pricing would ensure that bitcoin mining only uses clean power.