Energy Dept Withdraws Bitcoin Mining Survey After Lawsuit, Agrees to Open Comment Process

• Department of Energy and Energy Information Administration agree to withdraw emergency Bitcoin mining power usage survey after lawsuit • Plaintiffs alleged survey failed to show public harm and bypassed mandatory comment process • Federal agencies agree to destroy data collected so far and submit new nonemergency survey open to 60 days of public comments • Bitcoin mining may account for 0.6% to 2.3% of total annual U.S. electricity use according to initial EIA estimates • Plaintiffs claim data centers bolster grid reliability by swiftly shutting down during severe weather events to minimize demand