Severin Borenstein
Of all the proposals to avoid another Texas electricity crisis, surely the most outside-the-box is Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to increase electricity demand from cryptocurrency mining. The idea is to beef up demand with new, electricity-intensive crypto mining, which will then attract new supply. Then, when the grid is strained, scale back crypto demand and have that supply available for other consumers. Clever, right? Or maybe a bit too clever.
Of course, cryptocurrencies themselves are controversial: Are they a Ponzi scheme or brilliant currency innovation? Does their mining destroy the environment or support a clean energy transition? Is crypto mining an …
