Open in full screen mode Mining activities Large-scale cryptocurrencies, like this one in China, use enormous amounts of energy. (Archive photo) Radio-Canada Voice synthesis , based on artificial intelligence, allows you to generate spoken text from written text. The Supreme Court of British Columbia has upheld the provincial government's right to suspend power supply to new cryptocurrency mines. In December 2022, the government decided to suspend new electrical connections for cryptocurrency mining for 18 months. Conifex Timber, a forestry company that began mining cryptocurrency, then went to the Supreme Court of British Columbia to have this policy declared invalid. Justice Michael Tammen, however, said Friday that the province's decision was reasonable and not unduly discriminatory. BC Hydro CEO Christopher O'Riley told the court in an affidavit that Conifex's proposed data centers would have consumed 2.5 million megawatt-hours of energy. electricity per year. This amount is enough to power and heat more than 570,000 apartments, according to data on the website of the electricity supplier. Loading ELSELSE ON INFO: Minister Drainville insists, his catch-up plan “works” In a statement released Monday, Conifex said it was disappointed with the court's decision and plans to appeal. The company already operates a sawmill and bioenergy plant in Mackenzie, about 160 kilometers north of Prince George. She wanted to open new cryptocurrency mining companies in Salmon Valley, north of Prince George, and Ashton Creek, north of Kelowna. Cryptocurrency mining consumes enormous amounts of electricity to run and cool banks of very powerful computers 24/7/365, while creating very few jobs in the local economy, said Josie Osborne of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation.< /p> Before the government paused new power connections for cryptocurrency miners, BC Hydro released a report outlining the conundrum that& #x27;they represent for the electricity supplier. The report indicates that the demand for & #x27;energy from cryptocurrency mining operations would challenge clean energy and electrification goals. The very real prospect that by devoting such a large proportion of electrical energy to an industry, there would be less energy left for other uses, which could result in increased costs for all other residential and industrial customers in British Columbia. A quote from BC Hydro Report We continue to believe that the provincial government is missing several opportunities that&# x27;offers to improve energy accessibility, accelerate technological innovation, strengthen the reliability and solidity of the electricity distribution network in British Columbia and achieve more inclusive economic growth, explains the company Conifex in the press release published Monday.
Minister Drainville insists, his plan catch-up “works”
By Teilor Stone
Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116