Canada pulls the plug on mining companies
In British Columbia, Canada, the state‑owned BC Hydro is halting all requests for new power connections for mining companies.
In British Columbia, Canada, the state-owned BC Hydro is halting all applications for new power connections for mining companies. That was announced by the provincial government agency of the Canadian province announced.
Due to clean, affordable electricity, 21 crypto projects had already signed up. The temporary pause is intended to "keep BC's power supply reliable and help develop a permanent framework for mining activities".
"Cryptocurrency mining uses huge amounts of electricity to run data centers full of powerful computers 24/7, while creating very few jobs in the local economy," criticized Josie Osborne, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low-Carbon Innovation.
The electricity would instead go to "people switching to electric vehicles and heat pumps or businesses cutting their CO2 emissions". To ensure this, requests from mining companies are paused for 18 months.
The industry is under growing pressure from high electricity demand. The falling bitcoin price, coupled with rising energy costs, is also putting miners "under pressure".
