Power grids must match supply and demand every second. Wind and solar make that harder, because output follows the weather. A load that can turn off instantly is valuable – and a bitcoin miner is exactly that.
Texas (ERCOT)
- ERCOT defines a Large Flexible Load as 75 MW or more that can curtail on request.
- Its Dec 2024 capacity report says existing Large Flexible Load is "nearly all" crypto mining, and treats it as price-responsive load that can "reduce consumption or turn off quickly before emergency conditions".
- As a Controllable Load Resource, a miner can sell demand response and reserves. ERCOT says a load reduction is valued equal to added generation.
- The EIA notes miners are "regular participants" in demand-response programmes.
Beyond Texas
CCAF's surveyed miners reported 888 GWh of curtailment in 2023.
The open questions
- Miners are paid to switch off, and critics ask whether that is a subsidy. The answer depends on market design: the grid pays for the reserve it would otherwise buy from a power plant.
- A 2025 study of Texas miners found their use driven mainly by electricity prices, temperature and summer peak charges, but behaviour differs between sites.
- More flexible load can let new wind and solar connect earlier – but evidence of this is still thin and site-specific.
Mining is not a magic battery. It is a buyer that can say "not now" in seconds, which is rare and useful on a modern grid.