The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), a statistics agency of the U.S. Energy Department, has sent letters to cryptocurrency miners requiring data related to energy consumption and configuration of their mining sites. According to one of the letters posted on social media, miners have until February 23 to report the info regarding the activities carried […]
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The United States, through the Energy Information Administration (EIA), will start collecting data about cryptocurrency miners’ energy consumption rate within the nation starting next week.
On Jan. 31, the EIA revealed its intention to initiate a provisional survey targeting commercial cryptocurrency miners. This survey was authorized by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as an emergency data collection request, signifying the urgency of obtaining this information.
To get the approval, EIA wrote that Bitcoin price increases have incentivized more crypto mining activity, increasing electricity consumption.
“The combined effects of increased cryptomining and stressed electricity systems create heightened uncertainty in electric power markets, which could result in demand peaks that affect system operations and consumer prices,” EIA claimed.
In tandem with the survey, the EIA will actively seek public input on the energy usage data collection process from the cryptocurrency mining sector.
EIA Administrator Joe DeCarolis emphasized that the survey aims to shed light on the broader implications of cryptocurrency mining activities in the United States.
Furthermore, DeCarolis outlined the EIA’s focus on understanding how the energy demand associated with cryptocurrency mining is evolving. The agency aims to pinpoint geographical areas experiencing significant growth in this sector and quantify the electricity sources fueling this demand.
Mining activities have attracted significant attention from regulators and lawmakers alike for their electricity-sapping operations and impact on power grids and carbon emissions.
Over the past years, the U.S. has emerged as a major mining hub following China’s ban on such operations in 2021. The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) data showed that the country contributed an average monthly hashrate share of more than 37% as of January 2022.
Notably, skeptics point to the top cryptocurrency energy usage’s negative impact on the environment as a stick against mining activities. However, industry experts have suggested that BTC mining activities can actively contribute to the stability and efficiency of power systems.
The post US to launch survey on cryptocurrency miners’ energy consumption appeared first on CryptoSlate.
An executive order from the Biden administration could compel cloud computing companies to report excess power usage to the U.S. government, Semafor reported on Sept. 27.
Based on statements from anonymous sources, the expected order will require cloud computing companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon to disclose when a customer rents a certain amount of computing power.
Semafor noted that this reporting model involves treating computational power as a national resource. It also drew comparisons to other existing practices, such as know-your-customer policies that require banks and financial services to monitor and report transactions above a certain limit (and, in the U.S., cash transactions above $10,000).
The upcoming rules are reportedly meant to allow the U.S. government to determine when certain actors, including foreign companies, are using computer power to develop artificial intelligence (AI) projects that could pose a security threat.
Although the policy is intended to control AI development, Semafor noted that non-AI applications including video game development and Bitcoin mining similarly require large amounts of resources.
The quantity-based approach to usage monitoring could also fail to make distinctions within AI development and could overlook certain applications. The reporting noted that, although large language models (LLMs) currently require extensive computational power, the amount of power needed could decrease in the future. Furthermore, some AI tools, such as facial recognition algorithms, already require minimal computational power.
Sources told Semafor that the order is not finalized and may change. Furthermore, if the executive order comes into effect, it will not immediately introduce reporting requirements. Rather, it would likely task the U.S. Department of Commerce with creating rules that would in turn require companies to report the relevant information.
The post Biden administration rumored to be working on executive order requiring disclosure of outsized power consumption appeared first on CryptoSlate.