Bitcoin mining has become too centralized because of what you mention, mainly because the initial investment is pretty significant, for unit price and setup costs. Bitmain is too interested in profits to give smaller miners a chance at getting into the game. Plus the T9's 11.5TH is nowhere near powerful or efficient enough to give substantial enough returns for the price they ask. But running costs can be reduced if you setup in the right environment, as well as labor if you have the skills to do most of the work yourself. I think Bitmain just serves the big miners now, so if you're a small miner best to look into other crypto's to mine.