• Tech News
    • Games
    • Pc & Laptop
    • Mobile Tech
    • Ar & Vr
    • Security
  • Startup
    • Fintech
  • Reviews
  • How To
What's Hot

Amazon Workers Walk Out Over Layoffs and Broken Climate Promises

June 1, 2023

3 Essential Lessons For Startup Founders

May 31, 2023

Remoska Tria Electric Cooker review

May 31, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest VKontakte
Behind The ScreenBehind The Screen
  • Tech News
    1. Games
    2. Pc & Laptop
    3. Mobile Tech
    4. Ar & Vr
    5. Security
    6. View All

    Bring Elden Ring to the table with the upcoming board game adaptation

    September 19, 2022

    ONI: Road to be the Mightiest Oni reveals its opening movie

    September 19, 2022

    GTA 6 images and footage allegedly leak

    September 19, 2022

    Wild west adventure Card Cowboy turns cards into weird and silly stories

    September 18, 2022

    7 Reasons Why You Should Study PHP Programming Language

    October 19, 2022

    Logitech MX Master 3S and MX Keys Combo for Business Gen 2 Review

    October 9, 2022

    Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen10 Review

    September 18, 2022

    Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Chromebook, 16-inch+120Hz

    September 3, 2022

    It’s 2023 and Spotify Still Can’t Say When AirPlay 2 Support Will Arrive

    April 4, 2023

    YouTube adds very convenient iPhone homescreen widgets

    October 15, 2022

    Google finishes iOS 16 Lock Screen widgets rollout w/ Maps

    October 14, 2022

    Is Apple actually turning iMessage into AIM or is this sketchy redesign rumor for laughs?

    October 14, 2022

    MeetKai launches AI-powered metaverse, starting with a billboard in Times Square

    August 10, 2022

    The DeanBeat: RP1 simulates putting 4,000 people together in a single metaverse plaza

    August 10, 2022

    Improving the customer experience with virtual and augmented reality

    August 10, 2022

    Why the metaverse won’t fall to Clubhouse’s fate

    August 10, 2022

    How Apple privacy changes have forced social media marketing to evolve

    October 16, 2022

    Microsoft Patch Tuesday October Fixed 85 Vulnerabilities – Latest Hacking News

    October 16, 2022

    Decentralization and KYC compliance: Critical concepts in sovereign policy

    October 15, 2022

    What Thoma Bravo’s latest acquisition reveals about identity management

    October 14, 2022

    What is a Service Robot? The vision of an intelligent service application is possible.

    November 7, 2022

    Tom Brady just chucked another Microsoft Surface tablet

    September 18, 2022

    The best AIO coolers for your PC in 2022

    September 18, 2022

    YC’s Michael Seibel clarifies some misconceptions about the accelerator • DailyTech

    September 18, 2022
  • Startup
    • Fintech
  • Reviews
  • How To
Behind The ScreenBehind The Screen
Home»Startup»A Row Erupts Over Texas’ Bold Bitcoin Battery Plan
Startup

A Row Erupts Over Texas’ Bold Bitcoin Battery Plan

December 8, 2022No Comments4 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
A Row Erupts Over Texas’ Bold Bitcoin Battery Plan
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

Fred Thiel, CEO of Marathon Digital, claims that crypto miners participating in demand response schemes have helped to stave off blackouts in Texas this year. Mining facilities acted “like a capacitor,” he says, echoing the battery metaphor, allowing the grid to remain on an even keel.

Enthusiasm for the plan from Abbott and other crypto enthusiasts has been punctured by academics who claim even the basic premise is flawed. The idea of using huge crypto mines to control energy demand is based on “misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the grid and how it operates,” says Adrian Shelley, an energy policy expert and branch director of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. Although crypto mines are unique in their ability to switch off at short notice (unlike a factory, which may take hours to shut down), Shelley says the case for placing the extra strain on the grid in the first place is full of holes. Abbott’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Shelley argues it “doesn’t make sense” to pay miners for alleviating the strain they themselves are putting on the grid. In addition, much of the miners’ purchasing power gained directly from the grid is likely to decrease when demand spikes, as mining is no longer profitable under these conditions due to the rise in energy prices.

Hirs says there are millions of consumers already connected to the grid that would happily shut off their power in exchange for financial compensation, without adding additional strain to the grid or causing a price increase. Under the instruction of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the state utilities regulator, ERCOT launched a pilot program earlier this month to investigate how regular people can help support grid reliability—but Hirs says this should have happened years ago.

See also  The Overlooked Upsides of Algorithms in the Workplace

The flood of crypto miners arriving in Texas has also attracted the attention of lawmakers. In a letter addressed to ERCOT, a group of US politicians headed by US senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) expressed fears that crypto mining will “add to the stress on the state’s power grid.” Shelley shares the same concern: “There’s no way the grid could handle all that demand,” he says.

In its response to the letter, ERCOT explained it will not allow new mining facilities to power up if there is a risk of destabilizing the grid. But the operator also said it’s not in the business of predicting the impact of mining on the price of energy for consumers. 

Doug Lewin, president of Stoic Energy, a Texas-based energy consultancy, is worried about a different problem: What happens if miners decide not to switch off their machines? While the price of bitcoin sits at $17,000 per coin (down 63 percent this year), miners stand to profit by shutting down. But if the price were to rise, a tipping point would be reached whereby continuing to mine becomes the more lucrative option.

Some mining companies, like Marathon, are contractually obligated to shut down when demand spikes. But if others choose not to, they would be competing with consumer demand and increasing the risk of a blackout, says Lewin, who argues regulation is needed to mitigate this worst case scenario.

Bratcher of the Texas Blockchain Council says he expects ERCOT to ask all miners to sign agreements demanding they halt their operations if power reserves fall below 3GW. But in the meantime, he claims, the price of bitcoin would have to rise by ten times in order for the profit motive to collapse.

See also  Madrona Venture Group opens Silicon Valley office as it looks beyond Seattle for new investments – Startup

Despite objections—and questionable logic—under Governor Abbott, the message is clear: “Texas is open for crypto business.” And despite headwinds, Bratcher says the mining industry in Texas is still growing and ERCOT intends to forge ahead with plans to bring more facilities onto the grid. But as winter starts to bite, the Bitcoin battery experiment could soon get the ultimate stress test. Shelley says the “frightening” scale of Abbott’s plans will have the opposite of the desired effect, increasing the chance that Texas ends up in the dark once again.



Source link

Battery Bitcoin bold Erupts plan row Texas
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Amazon Workers Walk Out Over Layoffs and Broken Climate Promises

June 1, 2023

3 Essential Lessons For Startup Founders

May 31, 2023

How to Polish Your LinkedIn Profile | Startup

May 31, 2023

14 Benefits And Drawbacks Of Using AI Tools To Write Business Content

May 31, 2023
Add A Comment

Comments are closed.

Editors Picks

Modern Warfare 2 early access release date confirmed

August 17, 2022

How 14th-gen Meteor Lake plans to deliver on Intel’s road map

August 22, 2022

Marketers, custom-designed trackable Dynamic QR codes are here

September 2, 2022

A Place For Purpose? Recasting Insurance Through A Female Lens

May 21, 2023

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest news and Updates from Behind The Scene about Tech, Startup and more.

Top Post

Amazon Workers Walk Out Over Layoffs and Broken Climate Promises

3 Essential Lessons For Startup Founders

Remoska Tria Electric Cooker review

Behind The Screen
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Vimeo YouTube
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
© 2023 behindthescreen.uk - All rights reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.