Recently, crypto miners have rushed to Texas to take advantage of the state’s cheap energy prices. Now they have to cut their energy use in order to avoid a power outage. The firms will be coordinating with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the Texas grid. On Wednesday, the council stated that it would employ “all means” to manage the system. Peter Liska, Director of Energy in Compute North, stated that “the company is prepared to reduce its activities in real time to assist ERCOT, grid stability, and power demand.”
Nathan Nichols, a Texas-based miner who is also the co-founder and CEO of Rhodium, stated that most miners in Texas are “curtailing their load beginning TODAY to help provide surplus power reserves for #WinterStormLandon.”
Crypto miners are minimizing their demand by returning electricity to the grid, which is more cost effective and efficient than spinning up more energy reserves.