Crypto Companies Buck Energy Use Oversight 
On January 31^st, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced that it would begin collecting data on the electricity consumption of cryptocurrency mining facilities, which use immense amounts of power to perform calculations and turn a profit. Preliminary analysis from the agency suggeststhat cryptocurrency mining represents 0.6% to 2.3% of all U.S. energy usage – a large share for an industry that employs roughly 53,000 people across all crypto-related jobs in the United States; the agricultural sector, for context, consumes 4% of the nation’s energy and employs an estimated 2.6 million workers directly on farms. Cryptocurrency industry groups responded to the EIA’s announcement by accusing it of “federal overreach,” and say they have been targeted for political reasons. One of the agency’s primary concerns is the amount of strain these mining operations place on electricity grids, which may have to plan for extensive growth in the coming years. In Texas, lucrative deals with the state’s grid operator have allowed crypto companies to collect millions of dollars when they shutter their facilities in response to demand surges. A TTP report from 2022 investigated the arrangement, which incentivized the construction of more energy-guzzling crypto mines and left regular consumers on the hook.