A committee of the US Senate has recently passed a bill aimed at limiting benefits for cryptocurrency miners in Texas and expanding supervisory authorities’ rights.
Bill 1752 seeks to remove incentives that aim to attract miners to the region, which the initiators of the bill consider outdated, given that electricity consumption during mining in Texas has surged by 75% over the past year.
In addition to eliminating rewards, the bill aims to eliminate tax incentives and subsidies that support mining companies.
If the law is passed, tax benefits on mining companies’ property will be canceled, and companies with over 10 megawatts of computing power will be required to register as heavy load operators with ERCOT.
However, the implementation of mandatory measures that increase the reliability of the Texas power system will impose additional costs on mining companies.
The bill was passed unanimously by the committee and was sponsored by Texas State Senator Lois Kolkhorst, raising concerns among local cryptocurrency companies that it could be approved as state law without passing through the voting stage in the House of Representatives.
Earlier, Cody Harris, a member of the US House of Representatives, introduced a bill aimed at protecting the rights of Bitcoin owners in Texas.