Blockchain Leader Discusses State’s Bitcoin Mining Industry

In light of recent electricity consumption concerns regarding cryptomining, a local industry expert predicts that the state’s industry will remain stable and pretty much the same moving forward.

To put the state’s crypto mining industry into perspective, the state’s Comptroller of Public Accounts said in a report, “experts believe that, per day, about 3,000 megawatts (MWs) of mining operations operate in Texas, or about 4 percent of peak demand (i.e., demand for electricity on its hottest days).”

In addition, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) projects that mining operations could rise by 6,000 MWs in the next couple of years and potentially increase to 17,000 MWs by 2030.

The concern regarding these numbers is that the amount of energy needed to reach these projections could overpower the state’s electric grid and increase environmental effects.

However, Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, maintains that cryptomining can actually have the opposite effect and act like a “demand-side battery” to reduce the likelihood of blackouts.

For example, he said, “as a society, we use a lot of power in the mornings, and it trickles off in the afternoon. In the midday, we don’t use that much, but in the evenings, we use a lot of power, and then overnight, it drops off. The idea is that bitcoin miners can use that power when we need them to use it in the middle of the day or night, and then if demand gets too high, they can turn it off.”

As for possible environmental concerns associated with doing this, he added: “Bitcoin mining uses more renewable energy than any other industrial energy user. Globally, bitcoin mining uses over 50 percent renewable energy, and no other industry even comes close.”

Bratcher has been a long-time advocate for crypto mining in the state, founding the Texas Blockchain Council in 2019. Since then, “the organization has helped research two pieces of blockchain legislation that were passed in the 87th legislative session and signed into law by Gov. [Greg] Abbott,” according to his LinkedIn profile.