The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has sparked controversy within the cryptocurrency mining community by announcing a forthcoming survey aimed at collecting electricity consumption data from identified commercial mining entities. Set to commence next week, the survey, authorized by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on January 26 as an emergency data collection request, has drawn criticism from industry participants.
In a press release on Thursday, EIA Administrator Joe DeCarolis outlined the agency’s intent to delve into the energy implications of cryptocurrency mining activities in the United States. DeCarolis stated, “We will specifically focus on how the energy demand for cryptocurrency mining is evolving, identify geographic areas of high growth, and quantify the sources of electricity used to meet cryptocurrency mining demand.”
However, the move has not been well-received by the mining community, with some individuals urging fellow miners to boycott the survey. Bitcoin advocate and Catherdra Bitcoin mining firm director Marty Bent expressed concern in a blog post, characterizing the EIA’s initiative as an attempt to create an overly detailed registry of mining operations in the U.S. After scrutinizing the survey, Bent labeled it as “one of the more Orwellian things I’ve seen come out of this Administration,” due to its requirement for highly granular data, including specific information about mining fleets and hash rate data.
The contentious issue of cryptocurrency mining energy consumption has long been a point of contention between industry stakeholders and regulators, particularly as the process evolved from individual laptop-based activities to industrial-scale installations. Last year, a group of Democratic lawmakers, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy, urging the government to compel crypto miners to disclose their energy consumption data.
The EIA’s recent survey efforts have heightened tensions within the mining community, as it appears to be mandated by Federal law for commercial miners to participate. Alex Brammer, Director at Bitcoin Today Coalition, raised concerns in a social media post on X, stating, “They have pre-formatted delinquency notices for those companies that do not respond, which include threats of criminal and civil penalties for non-compliance, including a $10,633 fine PER DAY for failure to report. This is egregious and needs to be met with immediate legal action.”