Bitcoin Mining Actually Stabilizes Grids and Lowers Costs, Researcher Says
Bitcoin mining operations strengthen electrical grids somewhat than destabilize them, and they assist cut back shopper electrical energy prices by means of demand flexibility and grid companies, in line with a comprehensive analysis by impartial researcher Daniel Batten, which instantly challenges persistent misconceptions in regards to the business’s vitality impression.
The analysis, titled “Common Bitcoin Energy Misconceptions,” dismantles a number of extensively circulated claims about Bitcoin mining’s useful resource consumption and environmental footprint.
Batten presents proof from peer-reviewed research and real-world grid knowledge that contradicts narratives suggesting the expertise burdens energy programs and drives up shopper prices.
Grid Stabilization Through Flexible Demand
Multiple impartial research affirm Bitcoin mining’s capability to stability electrical grids as a consequence of its interruptible nature, notably on networks transitioning towards larger concentrations of variable renewable vitality sources like photo voltaic and wind.
A whitepaper referenced by Batten from Duke University vitality consultants concluded that Controllable Load Resources, together with Bitcoin mining operations, assist stabilize grids and defer the prices of costly infrastructure upgrades.
He additionally referenced analysis from ERCOT, the Texas grid that hosts the biggest focus of Bitcoin mining globally, which exhibits predominantly stabilizing results from near-daily Frequency Regulation and Demand Response companies.
Former ERCOT interim CEO Brad Jones summarized the findings: “[Bitcoin mining operations] have discovered a option to come into the market and take a few of that extra wind in offpeak durations. Then it might probably flip down each time we’d like the ability for different clients… And if a generator journeys offline, it might probably in a short time reply to that frequency disruption and enable us to stability our grid extra effectively.“
According to him, Texas documented one gentle localized destabilization incident involving Bitcoin mining on April 25, 2024, whereas a number of large-scale stabilization occasions occurred over the identical multi-year interval, together with emergency grid assist in the course of the July 2022 heatwave.
Consumer Cost Reduction Through Multiple Mechanisms
Contrary to claims that Bitcoin miners enhance residential electrical energy bills, knowledge offered by Batten from Texas between 2021 and 2024 exhibits that whole electrical energy prices paid by residential clients rose 23.8%, or 7.0% when inflation-adjusted, in comparison with the nationwide common enhance of 24.67%.
The evaluation identifies 5 mechanisms by means of which Bitcoin mining reduces shopper prices:
- Monetizing renewable vitality that might in any other case be wasted
- Creating aggressive markets for Ancillary Services
- Eliminating the necessity for extra gasoline peaker vegetation
- Reducing curtailment charges
- Deferring grid infrastructure bills.
Jones famous “the potential for [Bitcoin Mining] to satisfy our ancillary companies on the lowest attainable value means decrease prices for all customers within the State of Texas.”
After the 2021 Texas blackouts, ERCOT initially proposed constructing gasoline peaker vegetation at an estimated value of $18 billion, however as an alternative built-in Bitcoin miners as a versatile load able to quickly decreasing consumption throughout grid stress.
Two documented worldwide instances display direct worth impacts.
Norwegian residents in September 2024 experienced a 20% enhance in electrical energy costs after Bitcoin mining operations departed.
Additionally, CNBC reported that including Bitcoin mining to a rural microgrid in Kenya “dropped the value of energy from 35 cents per kilowatt hour to 25 cents per kWh” by monetizing beforehand wasted hydroelectric vitality.
Transaction Metrics and Environmental Performance
Batten’s doc additionally addresses the per-transaction vitality declare, stating the metric “is dismissed in 4 peer-reviewed research (Masanet et al., 2019; Dittmar et al., 2019; Sedlmeir et al., 2020; and Sai and Vraken, 2023) in addition to by Cambridge University as a result of Bitcoin’s useful resource use doesn’t come from its transactions.“
Cambridge data from 2025 confirmed that earlier estimates overestimated Bitcoin’s digital waste by 1204%, indicating an precise annual eWaste of two.3 kilotons somewhat than the claimed 30 kilotons.
Bitcoin mining has crossed the 50% sustainable vitality threshold in line with strong third-party knowledge, exceeding the worldwide common grid combine of roughly 40% renewable vitality.
Cambridge estimates present Bitcoin mining emissions at 39.8 MtCO2e attributable to greenhouse gasoline emissions from scope-2 electrical energy utilization, with 5.5% of annual carbon debt offset by means of methane mitigation from oil and gasoline operations.
Bitcoin’s mining issue is as soon as once more edging nearer to uncharted territory because the community prepares for its first adjustment of 2026. #Bitcoin #Mininghttps://t.co/Ez9uxnC3rE
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) December 29, 2025
Notably, in line with a latest Cryptonews report, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty rose to 148.2 trillion within the last adjustment of 2025, with projections pointing towards 149 trillion by January 8, 2026, as common block occasions hover close to 9.95 minutes.
Despite the rising issue, Russian President Putin claimed in December that the US and Russia are discussing joint administration of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant for Bitcoin mining.
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