This is not the summer when Americans want to deal with an unknown number of cryptocurrency companies unexpectedly flooding the power grid. More Americans expect to experience rolling blackouts already as the country’s electrical grid suffers from record heat and drought, currently driving energy consumption from coast to coast. Now lawmakers are concerned that U.S. cryptocurrency mining operations that plans for rapid growth may further destabilize the network, while quietly increasing carbon emissions and driving up energy costs for more and more consumers.
That’s why Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) joined five other congressmen to file a letter with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, advising the agencies to join forces to implement new regulations. that requires emissions and energy consumption reporting from all crypto mining operations across the country. Only then, Warren and others suggest, will we know exactly how many companies operate in the US, how much energy is used, how much damage is done to the environment and how many communities are affected.
The letter provided the EPA and DOE with new information from Congress’ investigation into the environmental impacts of “seven of the largest crypto mining operations in the US.” It’s only a fraction of the total, but together these companies plan to increase their total mining capacity by nearly 230 percent, requiring additional electricity consumption than is used to power all homes in Los Angeles. None of the companies said it is monitoring the impact on consumers connected to power grids, and none of the companies seemed to think they had any reason to fully comply with Congress’s request for information.
“None of the companies has provided full and complete information in response to our inquiries,” Warren et al. wrote. “But from the information they have provided, it appears that these companies’ mining activities are significant and growing, have a major impact on climate change, and that federal intervention is necessary.”
Only three companies shared data on greenhouse gas emissions, but the pattern the limited data set revealed was troubling to congressmen: “These three companies that have only provided clear emissions data are currently responsible for about 1.6 million tons of emissions annually. , the equivalent of nearly 360,000 cars – and these numbers will only increase in the coming years.”
warren et al. have given the agencies until August 15 to verify their authority to enforce crypto mining reporting. They suggested that some reporting, such as emissions data, might be required by existing legislation, such as the Clean Air Act.
Impact on utility bills
After China banned crypto mining last fall, the US became the main destination for companies relocating. In recent years, the congressmen say in the letter, the US has provided “more than a third of the global computing power for mining Bitcoin” (the most popular cryptocurrency). As more companies move to the US, Warren et al. said people who live and do business near these companies have already ended up paying higher energy costs.
The largest example comes from Plattsburgh, New York. The congressmen detailed a report detailing “home electricity bills that were ‘up to $300 higher than normal’ in the winter of 2018.” In that case, New York responded to growing concerns by approving the first US moratorium on new crypto mining operations. warren et al. do not push for a nationwide ban like China’s, but cited a study from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, which showed the magnitude of the problem and implications for other areas affected by future growth : “the power requirements of cryptocurrency mining operations in New York State are increasing annual electricity bills by about $165 million for small businesses and $79 million for individuals.”
