British Columbia cites prioritizing clean energy and job creation as the top reasons for halting cryptocurrency mining operations.
A government power company in British Columbia, Canada, has suspended all new power requests from cryptocurrency miners for 18 months.
The British Columbia government made the announcement in a Dec. 21 statement, stating that the moratorium will allow the government and BC Hydro to develop a permanent framework to meet the needs of cryptocurrency miners, urging local residents and saying it can meet the needs of both companies harmonize better.
Josie Osborne, Secretary of State for Energy, Mines, and Low Carbon Innovation, said the move was made to sustain clean energy that creates jobs and is greener for residents and businesses rice field.
BC Hydro currently serves seven cryptocurrency mining operations. The other six are in advanced stages of connection to the system, totalling 273 megawatts. These are not expected to be affected.
However, new cryptocurrency mining projects will not be able to initiate the process of connection with BC Hydro, and projects at the early stages of the connection process will also be halted, it said, adding that there are 21 cryptocurrency mining projects that are currently requesting a total of 1,03 megawatts of electricity.
The Ministry noted that this is equivalent to the energy needed to power approximately 570,000 homes or 2.1 million electric vehicles per year in the province.
The British Columbia hydro and power authority released a report in Dec. 2022 titled “Crypto conundrum,” where it warned that an “unprecedented level” of requests for cryptocurrency mining operations could potentially strain the available energy supply and lead to higher electricity rates for residents of B.C. It noted:
“BC Hydro’s available energy could be challenged by cryptocurrency mining operations, which could mean less energy for greener pursuits such as electrification or hydrogen production, and higher electricity rates for British Columbians.”
Statista reported that in early 2022, Bitcoin’s annualized electricity consumption reached a record high, estimated to be higher than Finland’s total power consumption, at an estimated “20.5 TWh per year.”
New York recently imposed a moratorium on proof-of-work (PoW) mining, becoming the first United States state to do so, prohibiting any new mining operations that aren’t based on 100% renewable energy.
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