Bitcoin is an energy hog.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024...es-to-bitcoin/One independent estimate made by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance had the US as the home of just over 3 percent of the global bitcoin mining at the start of 2020. By the start of 2022, that figure was nearly 38 percent.
The Cambridge Center also estimates the global electricity use of all bitcoin mining, so it's possible to multiply that by the US's percentage and come up with an estimate for the amount of electricity that boom has consumed. Because of the uncertainties in these estimates, the number could be anywhere from 25 to 91 Terawatt-hours. Even the low end of that range would mean bitcoin mining is now using the equivalent of Utah's electricity consumption (the high end is roughly Washington's), which has significant implications for the electric grid as a whole.
So, the EIA decided it needed a better grip on what was going on. To get that, it went through trade publications, financial reports, news articles, and congressional investigation reports to identify as many bitcoin mining operations as it could. With 137 facilities identified, it then inquired about the power supply needed to operate them at full capacity, receiving answers for 101 of those facilities.
If running all-out, those 101 facilities would consume 2.3 percent of the US's average power demand. That places them on the high side of the Cambridge Center estimates.