which coincides with China kicking the miners out last year.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/14/23206795/bitcoin-crypto-mining-electricity-texas-grid-energy-bills-emissions
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Higher electricity bills and even more carbon dioxide emissions could be on the way for Texans, despite crypto mining industry claims that it can spur the growth of affordable renewable energy.
The problem is the Bitcoin network’s enormous demand for electricity, which is spiking faster than the grid can reasonably keep up with.
Texas’ energy system is already bracing for the Bitcoin mining industry to keep growing at breakneck speed. The amount of electrical load crypto miners are expected to add to the Texas grid over just the next four years represents nearly a third of the grid’s current maximum capacity. Crypto mining is set to increase demand on the grid by a whopping 27 gigawatts by 2026
The problem is the Bitcoin network’s enormous demand for electricity, which is spiking faster than the grid can reasonably keep up with.
Texas’ energy system is already bracing for the Bitcoin mining industry to keep growing at breakneck speed. The amount of electrical load crypto miners are expected to add to the Texas grid over just the next four years represents nearly a third of the grid’s current maximum capacity. Crypto mining is set to increase demand on the grid by a whopping 27 gigawatts by 2026
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Let’s break down why 27 gigawatts is such a big deal.
The first thing to know is that a single megawatt (MW) can power about 200 homes during times of high demand in Texas.
A gigawatt is one thousand megawatts.
On July 12th, during the heatwave, the state hit a record.
More than 78 gigawatts of electricity were needed to meet peak demand, according to ERCOT.
The power grid in Texas can currently supply a maximum of about 92 gigawatts of electricity — and that’s only if every source of power generation is working perfectly, which usually isn’t the case.
That leaves limited breathing room for most of the state during periods of high demand.
The first thing to know is that a single megawatt (MW) can power about 200 homes during times of high demand in Texas.
A gigawatt is one thousand megawatts.
On July 12th, during the heatwave, the state hit a record.
More than 78 gigawatts of electricity were needed to meet peak demand, according to ERCOT.
The power grid in Texas can currently supply a maximum of about 92 gigawatts of electricity — and that’s only if every source of power generation is working perfectly, which usually isn’t the case.
That leaves limited breathing room for most of the state during periods of high demand.
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All of that brings us back to the crypto boom in Texas.
“There are over 27 gigawatts of crypto load that is working on interconnecting over the next four years,” the unnamed ERCOT spokesperson said.
That’s an “astronomically impossible” load to add to the grid in that short timeframe,
according to Joshua Rhodes, a research associate at the University of Texas at Austin.
“There’s no way we could do 27 gigawatts of crypto [in four years]
... that would put too much stress on the system too fast,” says Rhodes.
“We barely have the power plants to cover today,
“There are over 27 gigawatts of crypto load that is working on interconnecting over the next four years,” the unnamed ERCOT spokesperson said.
That’s an “astronomically impossible” load to add to the grid in that short timeframe,
according to Joshua Rhodes, a research associate at the University of Texas at Austin.
“There’s no way we could do 27 gigawatts of crypto [in four years]
... that would put too much stress on the system too fast,” says Rhodes.
“We barely have the power plants to cover today,
Quote
For instance, in upstate New York — another major crypto mining hub — electricity bills have increased by about $8 monthly for individual customers and $12 monthly for small businesses, according to an analysis last year by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Chicago.
“Large amounts of new demand are never helpful for your electricity bill,” says Eric Hittinger, an associate professor at Rochester Institute of Technology with a background in electricity system policy.
“The more crypto mining that comes into the state, the higher the residents should expect the electricity prices to become.”
“Large amounts of new demand are never helpful for your electricity bill,” says Eric Hittinger, an associate professor at Rochester Institute of Technology with a background in electricity system policy.
“The more crypto mining that comes into the state, the higher the residents should expect the electricity prices to become.”
Realize when the miners say the entire world generates this much energy,
that the locations these miners set up in , are only a small fraction of that total ,
which is why they overload their grids and cause their own banning.
What would be funny, if every utility regulated btc miners down to .15% of their actual total energy generation, then they would not threaten the grids.
BTC miner hash rate efficiently has grown every year since 2010, and the total energy consumed has never gone down.
The only way to make Proof of Waste energy efficient is to turn it off.
