One of the biggest costs in running mining equipment is going to be power consumption.
So ya, the cost of electricity is becoming much less of a factor than it used to be.
I disagree. Cost of electricity is always the number one concern when mining because you are essentially turning electricity into bitcoins. Cost of equipment is number two, and only matters when you are buying equipment or considering selling it.
I agree with the disagreement
In the long-run, the cost of the electricity is THE factor that will decide who keeps his/her ASICs plugged in and who will turn them off. The race to bring the most Gh/s/W is on and the winner(s) should sell the most ASICs in the market (all other things being equal).
Once you buy the equipment, the money paid should be considered sunken costs unless you plan to resale the equipment in which case you need anticipate resale value and/or time timeframe needed to recoup the investment.
To quote Obsi:
Quote
With the reward halving and coming ASIC price wars we might see first gen ASIC miners with high electricity rates priced out of the market sometime in 2013.