Crypto miners in Texas will be using as much energy as the city of Houston by mid-2023, ERCOT says
The Texas power grid might struggle with sub-zero temperatures, but state regulators are aiming to ensure it’s prepared for a downpour of cryptocurrency mining businesses relocating to the Lone Star State in search of a deregulated safe harbor for their energy-intensive enterprise.
According to Bloomberg’s Naureen S. Malik, the Texas Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is working closely with cryptomining operators to prepare the state’s private power grid for a stark increase in demand as more miners begin operating in the state over the next year. Officials say the influx of mining concerns could add between five and six gigawatts of stress to the state’s already temperamental energy infrastructure—an amount roughly equivalent to the entire city of Houston, or 1.2 million homes.
ERCOT interim chief executive officer Brad Jones said this figure could even be on the low end, relaying that miners representing about 17 gigawatts worth of electricity use have contacted the state about prospective operations.
“That’s about the equivalent of load of two-and-a-half New York Cities,” Jones told Malik.
Texas leaders have been vocal in recent months about their desire to turn the Lone Star State into a cryptocurrency leader, both in transactions and mining. Senator Ted Cruz has repeatedly espoused the potential benefits of cryptomining on the state grid, claiming the addition of more high-demand users would pump demand across the system and lead to an increase of available supply that could be rerouted in case of emergency.
