Manitoba Halts New Crypto Mining Projects Due to Expected High Energy Demand – According to the Canadian press, the Manitoba government is halting new crypto mining center connections to the province’s hydroelectric grid. Officials explain the move by citing the possibility of increased energy demand that the region may be unable to meet.
According to a Toronto Star article, the 18-month suspension will have no effect on the 37 currently active mining operations. The measure aims to put a stop to an increasing number of requests to power new facilities with combined capacity equal to a significant portion of the province’s electricity supply.
Providing the reasoning for the decision, Manitoba Minister of Finance Cameron Friesen, the government official responsible for the state-owned company Manitoba Hydro, commented on Monday: “We can’t simply say, ‘Well anyone can take whatever (energy) they want to take and we’ll simply build dams. The last one cost $13 billion if you priced in the (transmission) line.”
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Manitoba is a magnet for users who require large amounts of electricity, such as those involved in the energy-intensive mining of cryptocurrencies, because it has the second-lowest electricity rates in Canada, behind only Quebec.
Friesen disclosed that 17 new operators have requested a total of 370 megawatts of electricity from provincial authorities. This is greater than fifty percent of the electricity generated by the Keeyask hydroelectric generating station, which became operational in 2022.
The region’s finance minister also highlighted the concern of the Progressive Conservative government that blockchain businesses may not create many jobs. “You can be utilizing hundreds of megawatts and have a handful of workers,” he elaborated.
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“Manitoba Hydro cannot make discretionary decisions about who to hook up,” Friesen emphasized. A government review is expected to analyze the economic impact of cryptocurrencies and the need for a regulatory framework to approve new large connections to the grid.
Earlier this month, the Hydro-Québec public utility asked the electricity distribution regulator in its province to suspend energy allocation for the blockchain sector. Manitoba’s restrictions also follow the enforcement of a partial moratorium on proof-of-work mining in the U.S. state of New York.
