Bitcoin Mining Company Made Millions in Energy Credits While Texans Suffered
© Aaron M. Sprecher / Greenpeace
Texans Suffered Extreme Heat and High Electricity Bills
- Texans experienced record-breaking extreme heat this summer
- Many faced sky-high electricity bills
Riot Platforms Earned Millions for Shutting Down
- Riot Platforms, a Bitcoin mining company, received payments from ERCOT for shutting down
- In August alone, Riot made $31.7 million in energy credits
- This amount was nearly four times what the company made from mining Bitcoin
Heatwave Threatened Lives and Damaged Infrastructure
- The heatwave caused triple-digit temperatures
- People’s lives were at risk
- Infrastructure was damaged
Campaigning for Change
Joshua Archer, Lead Bitcoin Campaigner, expressed concerns about the situation:
“While Texans suffer from extreme heat, Riot boasts about its record-breaking earnings of energy credits and their controversial arrangement with ERCOT. Talk about a bad deal for Texans. Riot claims that it is stabilizing the grid by shutting down during heat waves, but how can paying Riot be justified while Texans have to pay exorbitant prices just to keep the lights on? This deal only benefits one party—Riot Platforms. This is why we are campaigning to innovate Bitcoin away from proof-of-work mining and rein in its excessive energy consumption. If Bitcoin wasn’t so energy-intensive to begin with, everyday ratepayers wouldn’t be stuck footing the bill while companies like Riot Platforms line their pockets.”
Contact Information
- Gujari Singh, Greenpeace USA Senior Communications Specialist
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 631-404-9977
About Greenpeace USA
Greenpeace USA is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.
