FREDERICTON — New Brunswick’s electric utility imposed a moratorium on offering new cryptocurrency mining services last year, saying it was concerned about its ability to meet the growing demands of the power-hungry sector.
Details of the moratorium can be found in a cabinet note dated March 1, 2022, which approves the indefinite pause and directs Crown-owned NB Power to conduct a review of the industry and submit its findings by December 31, 2022.
The cabinet document, recently revealed in a CBC report, confirms that NB Power had received several “large-scale, short-term” service requests from cryptocurrency mining companies, which were not named.
In February 2021, Vancouver-based Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd. announced that it would pay $25 million in stock to acquire GPU Atlantic Inc., which at the time operated its own 50-megawatt substation and crypto-mining data center in Grand Falls, NB
Hive said it would deploy next-generation bitcoin mining hardware that would be powered by “some of the lowest power costs in the industry.”
In early 2022, NB Power said it would put a temporary hold on all new large, short-term requests for electricity, and all new requests from cryptocurrency miners, due to concerns about their ability to meet the growing demand.
According to the minister, signed by Premier Blaine Higgs, the utility said the requests are putting “significant pressure” on the province’s electricity supply.
In response, Cabinet cited the province’s Electricity Act, which states the provincial government must ensure NB Power is managed in a manner “consistent with reliable, secure and financially sustainable service.”
The cabinet order was posted online by the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board.
The New Brunswick government and NB Power did not respond to requests for an interview. It remains unclear what the review found or how the government or NB Power intends to deal with the crypto mining industry.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 1, 2023.
Canadian Press
