Little known fact: Bitcoin mining saved Texans a 4.3% powerbill increase - an increase that they'd have been paying for 40 years.
How?
After Texas' Winter Storm Uri, a number of options were investigated to help stabilize the grid and generation assets. Gas peaker plants, weatherization of generation assets (making gas plants resilient against freezing) and flexible load (Bitcoin mining) were all evaluated.
The cost of gas peaker plants was initially estimated at $8Billion, which then rose to $10.3Billion (estimated to cost up to $4/residential power bill for 40 years. Source: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/04/13/texas-power-natural-gas-cost-senate-bill-6/#:~:text=A%20Legislative%20Budget%20Board%20review%20of%20the,cost%20with%20funds%20from%20the%20budget%20surplus
But then the estimate rose again to $18Billion (up to $7 per resident for 40 years). With the average Texan power bill in 2024 being $163.72, that's an increase of ~4.3%
But what happened instead is that Brad Jones, ERCOT interim CEO at the time went public in 2022 saying that weatherization plus Bitcoin mining was sufficient to solve the problem (no burden to residents).
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKnRfDeFgr0
By May 2023, the House killed the bill to allow the gas peaker plant purchase procedurally https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/politics/clean-energy-dodges-a-bullet-in-the-texas-legislature
The Digital Assets Research Institute analysis said that such a move would have been impossible, without Bitcoin mining offering a demand side alternative to the costly gas peaker plant solution.
https://www.da-ri.org/articles/how-bitcoin-mining-saved-texans-18-billion
4.3% may seem like a small figure, but in many parts of the world including the West where particular in UK where more than 1Million senior citizens are now regularly choosing to skip meals to afford home heating costs, a 4.3% increase is material and significant. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/dec/07/winter-fuel-crisis-one-million-elderly-already-skipping-meals-and-applications-system-overwhelmed
Also, 4.3% is a lower threshold that does not factor in the additional price-lowering benefits of monetizing otherwise wasted renewable energy (estimated to lower electricity bills by 28% in Kenya. Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/20/bitcoin-miner-gridless-backed-by-block-builds-site-at-kenya-volcano.html) and ~20% in Norway. Source: https://www.nrk.no/nordland/datasenter-la-ned-driften-_-na-far-innbyggerne-sjokkregning-1.17042643)
How?
After Texas' Winter Storm Uri, a number of options were investigated to help stabilize the grid and generation assets. Gas peaker plants, weatherization of generation assets (making gas plants resilient against freezing) and flexible load (Bitcoin mining) were all evaluated.
The cost of gas peaker plants was initially estimated at $8Billion, which then rose to $10.3Billion (estimated to cost up to $4/residential power bill for 40 years. Source: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/04/13/texas-power-natural-gas-cost-senate-bill-6/#:~:text=A%20Legislative%20Budget%20Board%20review%20of%20the,cost%20with%20funds%20from%20the%20budget%20surplus
But then the estimate rose again to $18Billion (up to $7 per resident for 40 years). With the average Texan power bill in 2024 being $163.72, that's an increase of ~4.3%
But what happened instead is that Brad Jones, ERCOT interim CEO at the time went public in 2022 saying that weatherization plus Bitcoin mining was sufficient to solve the problem (no burden to residents).
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKnRfDeFgr0
By May 2023, the House killed the bill to allow the gas peaker plant purchase procedurally https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/politics/clean-energy-dodges-a-bullet-in-the-texas-legislature
The Digital Assets Research Institute analysis said that such a move would have been impossible, without Bitcoin mining offering a demand side alternative to the costly gas peaker plant solution.
https://www.da-ri.org/articles/how-bitcoin-mining-saved-texans-18-billion
4.3% may seem like a small figure, but in many parts of the world including the West where particular in UK where more than 1Million senior citizens are now regularly choosing to skip meals to afford home heating costs, a 4.3% increase is material and significant. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/dec/07/winter-fuel-crisis-one-million-elderly-already-skipping-meals-and-applications-system-overwhelmed
Also, 4.3% is a lower threshold that does not factor in the additional price-lowering benefits of monetizing otherwise wasted renewable energy (estimated to lower electricity bills by 28% in Kenya. Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/20/bitcoin-miner-gridless-backed-by-block-builds-site-at-kenya-volcano.html) and ~20% in Norway. Source: https://www.nrk.no/nordland/datasenter-la-ned-driften-_-na-far-innbyggerne-sjokkregning-1.17042643)
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