Texas leaders want to know how much power crypto-mining facilities use while searching for digital money.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas approved a new rule last week requiring virtual currency mining facilities located within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas region to register with them.
The rule requires the facilities to provide the PUCT with annual information about their location, ownership, and electricity demand. It also implements the Public Utility Regulatory Act, which Republican Gov. Greg Abbott passed and signed into law in 2023.
"To ensure the ERCOT grid is reliable and meets the electricity needs of all Texans, the PUCT and ERCOT need to know the location and power needs of virtual currency miners," PUCT Chairman Thomas Gleeson said. "Most importantly, we will always take the steps necessary to ensure reliable, affordable power for all Texans."
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The rule will give the PUCT and ERCOT better knowledge of virtual currency mining operations around the state, which have different power consumptions. Virtual currency mining facilities are "flexible loads"; therefore, they can adjust their power consumption.
Experts point out these facilities can quickly adjust their energy consumption based on the wholesale price of electricity.
"What they could do is radically reduce their load at the right times, and then their measurement for their peak load would be very low, and they would get a very low allocation of cost, but the infrastructure cost would be still there to meet their peak load, and who would pay for it? Every other customer in ERCOT," said Dr. David Tuttle at the Energy Institute at the University of Texas.
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Facilities that fail to register under this rule will face a Class A violation, potentially resulting in a $25,000 penalty per violation per day.
