British Columbia halts new power connections for crypto miners

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A state-owned electricity utility provider in the Canadian province of British Columbia is set to suspend all new power connection requests from cryptocurrency miners for a period of 18 months.

The BC government made the announcement in a statement on Dec. 21 stating that the pause will allow the government and BC Hydro to develop a permanent framework that can better balance the needs of crypto miners and its residents and businesses. the region.

Josie Osborne, Minister for Energy, Mines and Low-Carbon Innovation, said the move was to preserve the clean energy it provides to its residents and businesses, which create jobs and are more environmentally friendly.

Cryptocurrency mining consumes huge amounts of electricity to run and cool banks of powerful computers 24/7/365, while creating very few jobs in the economy local.

Currently, BC Hydro provides services to seven crypto mining operations. Six more are in advanced stages of system connection, totaling 273 megawatts, these should not be touched.

However, new cryptocurrency mining projects will not be able to initiate the connection process with BC Hydro, and projects in the early stages of the connection process will also be halted, he said, adding that there are has 21 cryptocurrency mining projects that currently require a total of 1,403 megawatts of electricity.

The ministry noted that this is equivalent to the energy needed to power about 570,000 homes or 2.1 million electric vehicles per year in the province.

Related: BTC Energy Consumption Jumps 41% in 12 Months, Raising Regulatory Risk

The British Columbia Hydro and Electric Authority released a report in December 2022 titled Crypto conundrum, in which it warned that an unprecedented level of requests for cryptocurrency mining operations could potentially put a strain on strain the available energy supply and result in higher electricity rates for residents of British Columbia. :

BC Hydros’ available energy could be challenged by cryptocurrency mining operations, which could mean less energy for greener activities such as electrification or hydrogen production, and higher electricity rates for British Columbians.

Statista reported that at the start of 2022, annualized Bitcoin electricity consumption had reached an all-time high, estimated to be higher than Finland’s total electricity consumption, at around 204.5 TWh per year.

New York recently imposed a moratorium on proof-of-work (PoW) mining, becoming the first US state to do so, banning all new mining that does not rely on 100% renewable energy.

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