Cryptomines were temporarily closed in Texas to relieve heatwave-related pressures on Texas’ power grid.
The mines were forced to shut down by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas after they asked businesses and residents to cut their electricity consumption for a period of seven hours on Wednesday. According to a statement from ERCOT,
According to the Washington Post, nearly all of industrial-scale cryptocurrency mining was shut down by Texas Blockchain Council in order to meet ERCOT’s request.
“Over 95% The power usage of large-scale industrial-scale Bitcoin mines was reduced during peak demand periods over the last week,” Lee Bratcher of Texas Blockchain Council told the Post. The bitcoin miners were capable of pushing over 1 ,000 [megawatts] back to the grid multiple times throughout the week .”
.
Cryptomining is the method used to create various cryptocurrency. It takes a lot of electricity to generate the computing power required to decrypt and secure currency for transfer.
A Columbia University report stated that Bitcoin mines, which are the largest cryptocurrency in the world, consume more electricity than 150 Terawatt-hours annually. According to Columbia University, that is more electricity than Argentina’s entire population consumes each year.
After their homes in China,
Miners have moved to Texas and other areas of Texas.
The Chinese Communist Party started cutting off access to electricity from the mines to encourage China to develop a digital currency. According to Guardian,
The outlet stated that Texas’ power grid was deregulated, making it a desirable location for miners. This meant that miners had the option of choosing from many power providers. On the other side, the providers were required to offer lower rates in order to win miners’ trust.
