Bitcoin
US government launches new attempt to collect data on Bitcoin mining electricity usage
The fast-growing cryptocurrency industry is a major consumer of electricity, but no one — not even the U.S. government — knows exactly how much energy goes into the armada of computers used to “mine” Bitcoin and other digital assets. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that cryptocurrency mining uses between 0.6% and 2.3% of all electricity annually, but the agency may soon be able to access more precise data.
In the coming months, the EIA is planning to release a draft of a new survey that would require disclosure from companies in the cryptocurrency mining industry. On Wednesday, during a “listening session”, EIA officials described the process of creating the survey, which is typical of how EIA collects energy consumption data from manufacturers and commercial buildings.
“Most of the time for us, we’re just re-approving research, so it’s usually not very controversial. That may not be true this time,” said Stephen Harvey, a senior adviser to the EIA administrator who facilitated the webinar discussion.
This marks the government’s second attempt to figure out exactly how much energy cryptocurrency mining uses. Earlier this year, amid power shortages in the dead of winter, the administration sent out an emergency survey to assess the energy footprint of Bitcoin mining.
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But a federal judge in Texas blocked the data acquisition following a lawsuit from Colorado-based Bitcoin firm Riot Platforms and the nonprofit Texas Blockchain Council. The lawsuit argued that rushing the research in an emergency violated the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, and that some of the data requested was proprietary information. Instead of an emergency authorization, the new research will be published online in the Federal Register, go through a standard 60-day public comment period and be reviewed before needing final approval from the federal Office of Management and Budget.
Bitcoin, the largest and best-known cryptocurrency, is managed by a decentralized network of Bitcoin users. A network algorithm assigns each transaction a unique random identification code, which Bitcoin “miners” derive by operating powerful banks of computers day and night, running endless series of random numbers to crack these codes.
Once a correct code is reached, confirming a transaction, which happens on average on the network every 10 minutes, a Bitcoin miner receives 3,125 newly minted Bitcoins (each worth almost $58,000). The payment goes towards helping maintain the network and keeping it secure.
The energy consumed by data centers has come under increasing scrutiny as a surge in electricity demand, fueled by both artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency mining, conflicts with U.S. emissions reduction goals. For example, Texas has the highest concentration of Bitcoin mines, some of which are extracting energy directly from fossil fuel power plants.
In Texas, Bitcoin mining facilities are major players in the energy market, able to profit in ways that go beyond their energy-intensive calculations. After locking in low rates to buy electricity, they can make sizable profits by selling power at higher rates on the wholesale market at times of peak demand and by participating in so-called “demand response” programs in which they receive a premium for allowing grid operators to reduce the power demands of Bitcoin mines when power is needed elsewhere. In these cases, the cost of the premiums paid to Bitcoin mines is passed on to Texas consumers.
Peak electricity demand on the state’s main power grid could nearly double by 2030, with cryptocurrency mining accounting for the bulk of the roughly 43,000 megawatts of large loads expected to connect to the grid in the next three years, according to estimates from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
However, even grid system operators like ERCOT are uncertain about how much of their energy consumption is coming from cryptocurrencies. While Bitcoin miners feel their industry is being unfairly singled out by the EIA, critics of the largely unregulated industry see transparency as a critical step to ensuring the grid remains reliable in the transition to decarbonized energy systems.
“Utilities and anyone who relies on reliable, affordable electricity should support EIA’s effort to bring transparency to this energy-intensive sector,” said Caroline Weinberg, senior research and policy analyst at the environmental law nonprofit Earthjustice.
Calls for transparency have also come from neighbors who live near Bitcoin mining areas and are concerned about a range of issues, including noise pollution and rising residential electricity rates.
“These companies work behind closed doors, in secret, to set up shop in unsuspecting communities,” said Jackie Sawicky, a founding member of the Texas Coalition Against Cryptomining. “They know that if they are honest about their operations, they won’t be let in by the general public.”
During the public comment section of the EIA briefing on Wednesday, Bitcoin mining advocates suggested that the survey should cover data centers as a whole, rather than focusing solely on cryptocurrency. In addition to cryptocurrency mines, the data center universe includes large, continuously operating computer networks needed for cloud computing and other large data storage needs, as well as AI workloads.
“The industry will be skeptical if traditional data centers are left out of the research,” said Jayson Browder, senior vice president of government affairs at Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital.
Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, suggested that a survey covering all data centers could distinguish between traditional data centers that don’t shut down completely and “flexible” Bitcoin mines that can more easily shut down when needed, such as when electricity prices rise.
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Bratcher and others said that by being sensitive to electricity prices, Bitcoin miners actually improve the reliability of the network.
Alongside the EIA’s efforts, researchers have been trying to gather energy data from cryptocurrency miners as well as other data centers. “We can definitely learn a lot by looking specifically at cryptocurrency data centers,” Margot Paez, a doctoral student researching Bitcoin at Georgia Tech University, told Inside Climate News after giving public testimony to the EIA earlier Wednesday.
Accurate data showing the flexibility of Bitcoin mining, Paez said, could help inform how all data centers could operate more efficiently. During his remarks, Paez suggested that the EIA work with Georgia Tech and Lawrence Berkeley Lab on ongoing efforts to gather the same data, saying that Bitcoin companies may feel more comfortable working with academic researchers than working directly with the government.
She added in an interview that from her conversations with industry, companies are “starting to see that this kind of research can help them as well.”