A little over 13 months ago the state of Texas endured a historical freeze that almost resulted in the entire electrical grid collapsing. How close was it to this total collapse? Around 4 minutes from triggering its 9 minute shut down procedure which would have resulted in the grid taking weeks to get operational again. The storm resulted in sudden blackouts across the state and some critical infrastructure being impacted by these blackouts as well.

Since the storm a lot has been done to improve and overhaul the system but it is not something that is done overnight. Around the same time this year Texas was hit with another storm that brought extremely low temperatures with it. This time though the grid not only remained operational there was a ton of excess capacity. This lead people like me to be ecstatic because it proved that the crypto community and government were right when it came to mining in Texas.

Mining in Texas has exploded since the freeze took place. A large reason for that is Texas produces the most renewable energy in the United States and the cost of the power is much much cheaper than in other areas. The reason why mining was critical to the state is because of how the grid system works. See the grid can withstand some fluctuation of power demand but for the most point it really needs it to fall into a certain range or you get hit with blackouts or rolling blackouts. Bitcoin and other crypto mining increased the amount of power needed from the grid 24/7 so if power demand shot up Bitcoin and other crypto miners could be powered down accordingly keeping the supply and demand stable.

When this most recent winter storm hit not only was more power required from the grid then the previous year but they were able to create a huge surplus supply by powering off crypto miners. This proved that the addition of the miners was not the issue some had made it out to be. More importantly these miners where signing on as anchor tenets for the development of new power sources most of them being renewable windfarms but also other sources like solar and natural gas. This gave these companies developing these energies surefire payment that they could depend on while building out their facilities and providing much needed funding to do so. 

With all of this positive news of funding of additional green energy and seeing the very systems work in action you would think that this would be hailed as a success and that more and more people would push for adoption. However, that is not going to be the case and the reason why is well... because people refuse to see the bigger picture or accept the good with the bad. Claims have ranged from the grid is old and cannot take these additions to it doesn't solve the underlying problem but neither of these is true. Mining companies are leading to the development of additional renewable energy resources. Last year companies in Texas announced plans for the largest increase in solar power capacity ever. The idea that the grid cannot take it also points to another issue that this is forcing to be addressed. Companies that run these lines are now having to finally update them and their facilities. A ton of infrastructure is 40 years old or more and so energy consumption has increased a lot. Finally we are getting the new lines, cables, and other infrastructure that we need to replace. 

The newest claim though honestly is well an interesting one especially for right now and in particular a battle that can only be lost by those arguing in favor of it. The claim is that Bitcoin mining will lead to electricity price increases. There are many angles to attack this from but starting with the most basic of where these operations are typically located this idea doesn't make much sense. Bitcoin farms are being built in sparsely populated places where renewable resources are being developed so right off the bat the majority of these farms the idea that they will lead to huge price increases kind of just goes away since no one really lives in these locations and if they do more often then not they are now getting a whole new and much more reliable power generation facility. The other thing is that well inflation is running wild we are all going to pay more right now and for the foreseeable future. When prices go up because well that what inflation does opponents of Bitcoin are trying to set it up to blame it and not the reckless spending that put us in this position in the first place. 

Personally I think with just these two points alone the issue that the Bitcoin mining in Texas is going to be some super bad thing is defeated. The good that it can do and has done dramatically outweighs the worst things that could happen. At the end of the day these miners are getting paid either for mining or for not mining so they do not care one way or another money is money and they are making it. They are also helping move Texas, already the largest renewable energy generator in the United States, further towards its carbon neutral future. Lastly, in some areas it has been a huge boom for the economy as it bring high paying jobs to a place that otherwise wouldn't have them. 

Please know I am not a financial advisor I am just someone who picked up on a trend and wanted to express it! Makes sure you always do your own research and never invest money you cannot afford to lose! If you enjoyed this article and would like to further support me below are a couple of referral links that if you used when signing up I would appreciate it! Also, follow me on Twitter @Cje95_

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