Canada’s British Columbia denies power to new cryptocurrency mining firm. Press release The state government announced on December 21.
BC Hydro, a government owned company and the state’s only electricity service, is responsible for denying service to these applicants.
Energy Minister Josie Osborne criticized mining practices, saying:
“Cryptocurrency mining consumes a lot of electricity to run and cool banks of high performance computers 24/7, but it creates very few jobs in the local economy.”
Osborne added that the decision saves power for other uses. Specifically, the policy will help energize individuals adopting electric vehicles and heat pumps, as well as businesses creating economic opportunities or undertaking green missions.
This policy is temporarily in effect for the next 18 months. This will affect cryptocurrency mining companies that have not yet applied for electrical connectivity and those that are in the early stages of the connectivity process. This policy does not affect currently operating cryptocurrency mining companies.
Today’s press release says 21 cryptocurrency mining projects are now claiming 1,403 megawatt hours, and that the new policy will have an impact. The ministry called the figure “unprecedented,” and in one year he compared it to the amount of energy used by 570,000 homes or 2.1 million electric vehicles.
The seven cryptocurrency mining companies already operating in British Columbia use significantly less energy—only 273 megawatt hours.
Similar measures have been taken in other Canadian provinces. Canada’s French-speaking province of Quebec has intermittently imposed and lifted restrictions on cryptocurrency mining since 2018. Like BC, Quebec’s policy is for new applicants only.
Manitoba, located in central Canada, also announced in November this year that it would suspend energy connection applications from new cryptocurrency miners for 18 months.
