Hydro-Quebec To Start Bidding War for Power Allocation to Crypto Mining Companies

Recently, Altcoin Buzz News ran a story about a utility company called Hydro-Quebec seeking the guidance of Quebec’s energy regulator, Regie de l’énergie. Hydro-Quebec was inquiring about how to deal with unprecedented power demand from crypto mining companies. More details are now available about Hydro-Quebec’s plan to keep costs low and satisfy the demand of the rapidly expanding crypto mining industry.

As a brief refresher to those who may not have read the original article, Hydro-Quebec, a utility company that uses the eco-friendly process of turning hydro-power into electricity recently became overwhelmed by energy demands from crypto mining companies. Quebec, a province in Canada, is sought after by crypto mining companies since the energy costs in the area are some of the lowest in North America. Hydro-Quebec has sent a proposal to the province’s energy regulator Regie de l’énergie in search of a solution.

The proposal to Regie de l’énergie is requesting a 500-megawatt allocation, a 380-megawatt increase from their current allocation of 120 megawatts. This 500-megawatt allocation, if granted by the Regie de l’énergie would be distributed via a bidding process. The bidding price would start at one Canadian cent per kilowatt hour.

“The goal of this process is to both maximize economic spinoffs for Québec and revenue for Hydro-Québec—in turn, pushing electricity rates down for customers,” writes the Canadian news network Newswire.

For crypto-mining firms to qualify for more energy allocation, they will have to prove the number of jobs available in the firm, the total payroll of those jobs, and any investments being made by the crypto-mining firm. These requirements were added to the proposal to favor companies that are bringing jobs to Canada. Hydro-Quebec added that they will be requesting some mining firms to reduce energy usage by up to 300 hours per year since the company has a responsibility to the rest of the province.