British Columbia Shuts Down Power Supply for Crypto Mining

• Currently, BC Hydro serves seven cryptocurrency mining facilities.
• A report titled “Crypto dilemma” was published by the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority.

British Columbia, Canada, has halted new electricity connection requests from cryptocurrency miners for 18 months to promote the province’s climate action and economic goals. The government of British Columbia stated hope that the suspension will relieve the province’s power constraints while its main electricity distributor, BC Hydro, is given more time to build a permanent regulatory framework for crypto mining by interacting with the local industry.

Josie Osborne, the energy minister of British Columbia stated:

Cryptocurrency mining consumes massive amounts of electricity to run and cool banks of high-powered computers 24/7/365, while creating very few jobs in the local economy.”

According to the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, 21 cryptocurrency miners are presently requesting 1,403 megawatts in total, which is enough energy to power around 570,000 homes annually. The restrictions will assist CleanBC, a campaign in British Columbia that encourages various local firms to pursue greener operations to minimize carbon emissions.