Texas Experiences Spike In Electricity Demand Due To Bitcoin Miners

The cryptocurrency industry in Texas is still growing despite concerns over electricity consumption. (photo: twitter @TXblockchain_)

JAKARTA - The cryptocurrency industry in Texas is still growing despite concerns over the high electricity consumption and bankruptcy of several companies in the industry. This is supported by the recent increase in electricity demand by bitcoin miners in the state.

According to Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, bitcoin miners in Texas used about 2,100 megawatts of the state's electricity supply. The use of electricity increased by 75% last year and nearly tripled from the previous 12 months.

However, this electricity demand is only about 3.7% of the state's lowest peak load forecast this year, according to data from grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

Bratcher said that the bitcoin mining industry faces several challenges, including bankruptcy of two large companies and several miners that reduce expansion. In addition, the industry is also faced with new federal regulations, including a 30% tax proposal for electricity use in digital mining and pressure from US financial secretaries and commodity regulators to create regulatory frameworks.

This year, New York has banned cryptocurrency mining that uses energy from fossil fuels, and other states are expected to follow suit.

However, in Texas, some regions offer tax incentives and miners remain interested in wind and solar energy, which can provide about 39% of ERCOT's energy needs by 2023.

"Bitcoin mining is a very energy intensive business, that's why we tend to find places like West Texas full of bitcoin miners," said Matt Porus, chief commercial officer of US cryptocurrency miner Bitcoin Corp, which has one of the mining operations in a 280 megawatt wind field in Texas.

Last month, its McCamey website, Texas, consumed 173,000 megawatts of electric clocks - about 60% of grids and nearly 40% of nearby wind fields. The average home in America uses about 10 MWh in a year, according to Energy Information Administration.

In Texas, where about 250 people died during a power outage due to a snowstorm that revealed the state's grid fragility, prospects for higher crypto demand have raised concerns.

"Many bitcoin mines are trying to connect to the system," said Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. "If everything is connected at a specified time, then it might cause problems on the grid because the load will grow much faster than before."