The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is requesting cryptocurrency miners to disclose their energy consumption for the next six months amid concerns about a surge in cryptocurrency mining due to the recent increase in Bitcoin prices. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the DOE's statistics agency, announced on January 31 that it would initiate a temporary survey in the coming week to assess the electricity usage of local cryptocurrency mining companies. Miners are required to provide detailed information related to their energy consumption during this period.
The investigation, approved by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on January 26, is a response to the recent 50% increase in the price of Bitcoin over the past three months, leading to expectations of a boost in cryptocurrency mining activities and subsequent electricity consumption. The EIA aims to focus on understanding how the energy needs of cryptocurrency mining are evolving, identifying areas of high growth, and quantifying the sources of electricity used for mining activities. This initiative follows previous efforts by the U.S. government to regulate the cryptocurrency mining industry, which gained momentum after China banned cryptocurrency mining in 2021, making the U.S. a prominent destination for miners relocating their operations.
Congressional hearings in 2022 scrutinized the mining industry for its energy consumption and environmental impact, prompting further investigations by the Environmental Protection Agency. In early 2023, President Joe Biden proposed a 30% incremental tax on the electricity costs of cryptocurrency miners as a measure to reduce mining activity in the country. Global Bitcoin miners were estimated to have consumed a record 121.13 terawatt hours of electricity in 2023, according to the University of Cambridge’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. This surpasses Belgium's consumption of 93.8 terawatt hours in 2022, as reported by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA forecasts that cryptocurrency mining could use 160 terawatt hours by 2026, indicating a further rise in consumption.
