Crypto miners are expected to drive up electricity consumption to six gigawatts by mid-2023, more than enough to power every home in Houston, according to Texas, the network operator.
The prognosis from the Texas Electrical Reliability Council is the first official estimate of the potential strain on the state’s electrical infrastructure from miners.
Over the next 12 to 15 months, authorities predict new demand of five to six gigawatts, which is the equivalent of up to 1.2 million houses.
It’s merely a drop in the bucket. According to Brad Jones, interim CEO of Ercot, about 17 gigawatts of cryptocurrency miners have applied to connect to the Texas network.
In a phone interview, Jones added, “That’s about the equivalent of the charge of two and a half New York cities.”
Texas has been actively recruiting cryptocurrency miners, who are drawn to the state’s low energy costs and lack of regulation.
Critics say that the increased demand will be too much for the network, which crumbled during a 2021 winter storm, resulting in 246 deaths due to blackouts.
However, the miners, as well as a number of Texas legislators, say that cryptocurrency will make the network more resilient since operators may immediately scale back to give the system a break when demand spikes.
According to Jones, Ercot is collaborating with miners to prepare the network to handle about 25 gigawatts of bitcoin demand over the next decade.
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