The ministry has proposed a legislative amendment that would give the government the authority to regulate or prohibit the use of electricity by cryptocurrency miners. This is in response to concerns about the unchecked growth of the sector potentially making it costly to supply electricity to homes and companies. As a result, around twenty-one mining projects with a collective request for 11,700 gigawatt hours of power annually were temporarily halted. Minister Osborne mentioned that British Columbia is working with the provincial power utility, British Columbia Hydro, to ensure an adequate electricity supply for the province’s future.
The province has also announced that it will not approve new mining connections to its electricity system for 18 months. Osborne emphasized that this measure is intended to preserve electricity primarily for electric vehicles, heat pumps, and businesses and industries undertaking electrification projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions and creating jobs and economic opportunities. British Columbia is the fourth largest electricity producer in Canada, with a generating capacity of around 18,250 megawatts. However, it has been identified as posing a risk to future power generation reliability, as per an assessment by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
The assessment suggests that generation constraints and growing demand could present challenges by 2026.