EIA to collect data on crypto mining energy use

Bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies depend on a lot of high-powered computers doing high level math. That’s known as “crypto mining,” and it consumes as much as 2% of all electricity in the U.S., according to the Energy Information Administration.

Starting this week, that federal agency will start collecting information from cryptocurrency mining companies about where and how that power is being used, but the crypto industry isn’t thrilled about giving that information up.

When Colin Read was mayor of Plattsburgh, New York, a few years ago, the small city had just welcomed some bitcoin mining operations to town. 

They came with their racks and racks of computer servers to take advantage of Plattsburgh’s cheap hydroelectric power — at least, it was cheap up to a point.

“If we exceed those quotas because bitcoin is in town, we have to then buy more power on spot markets, which means everybody’s rates rose quite a bit,” Read said.

Read, who’s also a professor of economics at SUNY Plattsburgh, wants more transparency around the industry’s energy use.

But “the industry is probably loath to really tell the full story,” he said.

The industry isn’t afraid of data collection, per Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council. “We’re just concerned with the manner in which this data collection is going about,” he said.

Bratcher argues mining companies could be at a competitive disadvantage if the Feds release what he calls proprietary information. 

The industry, he added, is exploring how to respond to the EIA’s request — including whether or not to take legal action.