Mining Demand in Texas

Summary

In recent years, there has been a global attempt to advance technologies that pave the way for decarbonization and electrification of the energy sector. Cryptocurrency mining is among emerging technologies that could potentially impact the reliability and optimal operation of the power grid. Between 2019 and 2022, the United States hash rate to mine new Bitcoins has notably increased from nearly 4 percent to 37.8 percent of the global hash rate, increasing its power capacity to 5.7 GW [1]. In addition, the total number of unique mining addresses grew from 389.29 thousand to 519.01 thousand addresses [2].

Along with the booming Bitcoin mining, its electricity demand also grew substantially. According to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, the estimated power consumption for the Bitcoin network is around 13.55 GW globally as of May 30th, 2022 [3]. However, this demand is impacting the power grid disproportionately. For example, the Texas grid, managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), currently has 1.5 GW of active mining capacity and is attracting nearly 2 GW of additional Bitcoin mining load per year [4].