Elizabeth Warren and 6 different Democratic senators are Texas’ vitality regulator on whether or not the crypto mining business is placing extra pressure on the state’s grid, and its affect on local weather change.

In to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the senators observe that “cryptomining companies are flooding into states like Texas,” and lift questions in regards to the business’s affect on the state’s grid, which is already in place throughout main storms and different durations of excessive demand. “The Texas grid is particularly vulnerable given that it is the only independent state grid in the country, and does not interconnect to other states – meaning it has no buffer if there is a shortfall in supply,” the letter notes.

The senators additionally take difficulty with the funds mining corporations obtain from ERCOT at instances of excessive demand. “In simple terms, the Bitcoin miners make money from mining that produces major strains on the electric grid: and during peak demand when the profitability of continuing to mine decreases, they then collect subsidies in the form of demand response payments when they shut off their mining operations and do nothing,” the letter says. “These subsidies to cryptominers also feed back into the worsening climate crisis. The energy used to mine Bitcoin and Ethereum in 2021 resulted in almost 80 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.”

The letter asks for particulars on the quantity of vitality consumption utilized by crypto mining corporations during the last 5 years, as effectively if residential electrical energy charge hikes have coincided with crypto miners’ arrival within the state.