According to two organizations, the new required survey that the United States Energy Department is implementing to gather data from Bitcoin miners is "an abuse of authority" on the part of the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, who is attempting to restrict the business.
The assertion is made in response to a study that was published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which is the statistics division of the federal agency, last week.
The report stated that cryptocurrency mining accounted for as much as 2.3% of the total energy consumption in the nation in 2023, using data that was available to the public. Following the receipt of emergency approval to do so, the EIA will begin collecting monthly statistics on the energy use of cryptocurrencies beginning in February and continuing through July.
According to a statement released by Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, and Perianne Boring, chief executive officer of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, the emergency action taken by the EIA is equivalent to an overreach by the federal government and has implications for all industries that rely on data centers for their operations
They referred to the action as being politically driven in order to assist the White House in accomplishing its objectives to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
"We conduct dozens of surveys with energy producers and consumers, some of which we have been conducting for decades," the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated in a statement that was sent out by email. We are hoping that we will be able to collaborate with businesses in the bitcoin sector in order to educate the general people in the United States with a comprehension of energy use.
Because mining bitcoins involves a significant amount of energy, lawmakers and designers of electric networks are concerned about the strain that it will put on the systems in the United States and the carbon dioxide emissions that will be caused by the mining process
The miners contend that they contribute to the reduction of grid stress by shutting off and freeing up electricity at times of urgent need so that others can utilize it.