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Texas has become a mecca for crypto mining because of its lower-cost renewable energy, but there are growing concerns regarding power grid stability.
There’s been a rush of investors to fuel Bitcoin mines with gas that would otherwise be burned off or vented into the atmosphere in oil-producing fields.
Just two digital mining operations would each require as much as $20 million to fortify power lines and avert blackouts, according to one utility. Each would consume enough electricity to power as many as 60,000 homes.
As interest in cryptocurrency mining continues to grow, Texas power utilities are left to figure out how to manage the surge in electricity demand largely on their own, making many things, like monthly costs, uncertain.
Industry advocates argue that as Bitcoin mining booms in the state, someone will come along to build more power plants.