Starting next week, the Energy Information Administration will begin collecting data on the electricity usage by Bitcoin miners in the United States.
Following the approval of an “emergency” request by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), a statistical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy, starting from next week and for the next six months, information related to the electricity consumption of bitcoin mining companies will be collected.
The recent increase in the price of bitcoin and the consequent growth in mining activities, and thus the demand for electricity, were cited by the EIA as factors for this emergency request.
The approval of the request came on January 26th from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
The EIA’s plan
According to Joe DeCarolis, administrator of the EIA, the agency will focus on the evolution of energy demand related to mining in the United States, identifying geographic areas with the highest growth and quantifying the various sources of electrical energy used for mining operations.
The EIA also intends to seek the participation of the general public in the survey on the electricity usage by miners.
Riot Platforms’ position
The data collection request by the EIA has been contested by some figures in the mining industry, including Pierre Rochard, Vice President for Research at the mining company Riot Platforms. According to Rochard, there is no ’emergency’ for collecting this data, emphasizing instead how Bitcoin mining can contribute to stabilizing the electrical grid.
