Bitcoin Miners Helped Texas Avoid $18 Billion Energy Costs: Report

Bitcoin BTC/USD mining reportedly helped Texas avoid $18 billion in energy costs by eliminating the need for new gas peaker plants.

What Happened: The findings were made in a Monday report by the Digital Assets Research Institute, which credited the efforts of Electric Reliability Council of Texas CEO Brad Jones in identifying Bitcoin mining as a better alternative to stabilize the Texas electrical grid instead of the costly and polluting gas peaker plants.

Natural gas-fired plants have been traditionally used to stabilize grids during peak demand. However, their popularity has dipped owing to significant carbon footprints, high setup and maintenance costs, and large idle time.

Bitcoin mining, on the other hand, offered a more flexible solution, creating far less emissions than gas peaker plants, the report stated, citing data.

See Also: Trump Names Uyeda Acting SEC Chair, Regulators Get Ready For Crypto Makeover

Most major Bitcoin mining companies, including Riot Platforms Inc. RIOT, joined in the so-called “Demand Response” programs undertaken by the Texas grid, rendering the gas peaker plants unnecessary.

“The estimated cost of gas peaker plants, which would be passed on to Texan power users in the form of higher power bills, has now ballooned to $18 billion, ” the report read.

Why It Matters: Miners help stabilize the state’s power grid by powering up their operations when there is an excess capacity of electricity while drastically lowering it when the state requires more usage during extreme weather conditions.

This flexibility allows grid operators to use less energy from less efficient power plants and incorporate renewable energy sources like solar and wind power, which can go underutilized during peak demand.

Price Action: The Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF WGMI, which provides exposure to top Bitcoin mining companies, closed 1.58% lower at 24.97 on Tuesday, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

According to a recent report, U.S. miners controlled over 30% of the global network hash rate, marking a 9% increase in market share since April's halving.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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