BC Hydro suspends electricity requests from crypto mining operations for 18 months to protect the province’s clean electrical supply and support its economic and climate action goals, according to the British Columbia government’s official press release published on December 21st.
B.C. Hydro is a government-owned corporation that provides electricity exclusively for British Columbia. The short-term ban will protect B.C.’s electricity supply – so they and the provincial government can work out to create a long-term framework for crypto-mining activities.
Canada’s other provinces have made such moves. Since 2018, electricity limitations for cryptocurrency mining have been irregularly imposed and repealed in Quebec, Canada’s francophone province.
According to the press release:
After suspending cryptocurrency mining connection requests to study its effects on electricity supply, Hydro-Québec implemented a new framework for cryptocurrency service that includes higher rates and a cap on the amount of electricity available for cryptocurrency mining.
Quebec requested officials to divert power away from cryptocurrency firms again on December 8th of this year. Quebec’s policy, like that of British Columbia, is limited to new applicants.
Similarly, Manitoba, a province in central Canada, declared an 18-month suspension on new crypto miners’ requests for electricity connections last month.
According to Statista‘s statistics, in May 2022, Bitcoin’s annualized electricity footprint surpassed all previous highs. It comes from a source that tries to calculate how much energy Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin use (BTH). At a record-breaking “204.5 TWh per year,” the yearly electricity usage of Bitcoin has reportedly surpassed that of Finland as a whole.
Pause On Electrical Connections For Crypto Mining
Minister of Energy, Mines, and Low Carbon Innovation Josie Osborne said:
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.
He explained that they were taking this action to preserve their power supply so it could be used for those who would switch over to electric vehicles and heat pumps and those involved in an electrification project.
Miners of cryptocurrencies have shown an unusual level of interest in B.C.’s clean, inexpensive power. There are now 21 projects requiring 1,403 megawatts in total, which will be temporarily stopped.
That equates to the energy required to fuel 2.1 million electric vehicles or almost 570,000 houses in British Columbia annually. However, both newly proposed mining projects and those in the early phases of the connection procedure with B.C. Hydro may be delayed or stopped.
The press release further ensures that existing mining projects won’t be impacted, nor will a select few that are very far along in the connection process with B.C. Hydro.
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