Bitcoin Miner Made Millions In Credits By Shutting Rigs During Texas Heat

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Riot Blockchain earned about $9.5 million in credits last month from shutting down its Bitcoin mining rigs at a Texas facility while the region weathered a historic heat wave. The amount will be credited against the company's power usage. The value of the credit is equal to around 439 Bitcoin. Riot also mined 318 coins during the month, according to the company's monthly production and operations update. The publicly traded miner has a 750-megawatt facility and is building another one-gigawatt site in the Lone Star State. The sites are two of the largest mining farms in the world. Nearly all industrial scale miners shut down their rigs in Texas while the state experienced a severe power crunch during the record heat wave in early July. While the power crunch sent electricity prices soaring and made Bitcoin mining operations unprofitable, some large-scale miners such as Riot were able to sell electricity purchased earlier at a lower price back to the grid with a premium.

Riot is participating in the 4 Coincident Peak program from the state power operator known as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Riot's 750-megawatt Whinstone Facility in Rockdale, Texas, is encouraged, though not required, to curtail consumption when called during the four summer months of peak energy demand. The company sold 275 mined coins for about $5.6 million in July. The 318 Bitcoin mined represents a decrease of 28% in production compared to the prior month, according to the update.