Crypto Miners’ Electricity Use in Texas Would Equal Another Houston
The Texas grid operator expects crypto miners to increase electricity demand by up to 6 gigawatts by mid-2023, more than enough to power every home in Houston.
The forecast from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas is the first official estimate on how much stress miners are apt to put on the state’s electrical system. Officials expect 5 to 6 gigawatts of new demand over the next 12 to 15 months, the equivalent of up to about 1.2 million homes.
It’s just the tip of the iceberg. All told, about 17 gigawatts worth of crypto miners have inquired about plugging into Texas’s grid, according to Brad Jones, Ercot’s interim chief executive officer.
“That’s about the equivalent of load of two-and-a-half New York Cities,” Jones said in a telephone interview.
Texas has been aggressively courting crypto miners, who are drawn to the state’s cheap power and laissez-faire regulation. Critics warn the increased demand could be too much for the grid, which collapsed during a 2021 winter storm, leading to blackouts that left 246 people dead. But miners, along with many Texas politicians, argue crypto will make the grid more resilient because operators can quickly scale back to give the system a break when demand spikes.
Ercot is working with miners to prepare the grid to handle about 25 gigawatts of crypto demand over the next decade, Jones said. When asked if Texas aims to be the world’s largest mining center, he replied: “Yeah, that’s what we are planning.”
If all 17 gigawatts started up and operated at full throttle around the year, they would increase peak demand on the grid by more than 20% for next year. However, the new miners are willing to be “flexible load” in which Ercot could give orders to ramp up or down depending on grid
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