Key Insights:

• Six Senators wrote to the EPA and DOE asking them to demand crypto miners report their energy consumption.

• Bitcoin mining operations can be used to balance energy grids.

• A large number of U.S. mining firms use renewable energy.

Late last week, U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and four others sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE).

In it, they offered “new information” from their own study of cryptocurrency mining. The data was simply a rehash of the same old figures from Cambridge University comparing Bitcoin’s power consumption to a Scandinavian country.

“Our investigation suggests that the overall U.S. cryptomining industry is likely to be problematic for energy and emissions,” they stated.

They demanded that the EPA and DOE enforce company reporting on energy usage and environmental impacts by August 15.

Is Bitcoin Mining Really That Bad?

In reality, the demand for energy by the Bitcoin (BTC) network has actually fallen 41% since February as miners have been powering down due to bear market profitability concerns. However, the long-term consumption trend is going up as competition increases to mine the remaining few BTC.

Additionally, many mining operations in the U.S. also use predominantly renewable energy sources, especially those based in Texas. Some even buy carbon credits to offset their impact and emissions.

The policymakers also claimed that mining operations were putting pressure on energy grids. This may be the case in some instances, but it has also been refuted by industry experts that are more knowledgeable on the subject than politicians.

On July 17, an industry researcher posted findings that support the concept that Bitcoin mining actually helps to balance a grid, especially on heavy on renewable sources.

They noted that excess energy and redundancies always need to be available for power authorities to provide electricity reliably. Deviations in system frequency (60Hz in the U.S.) can occur when energy supply and demand are mismatched, he added. This can damage equipment and cause cascading issues.