In a Financial Context, How Is the Energy Cost of PoW Sometimes Viewed as a Form of Security Expenditure?

The massive energy consumption in Proof-of-Work (PoW) is often viewed as a necessary expenditure that translates directly into network security. The cost to acquire and run the specialized hardware and the electricity consumed represents the economic barrier to attacking the network.

This expenditure is the price paid to make a 51% attack prohibitively expensive, thus securing the ledger's integrity.