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The Texas power grid still struggles with fluctuating energy prices and irregular service. However, Bitcoin miners believe they can fix that.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz agrees. “A lot of the discussion around bitcoin views bitcoin as a consumer of energy,” said Cruz at an event in October. “The perspective I’m suggesting is very much the reverse, which is as a way to strengthen our energy infrastructure.”

ERCOT — short for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which is the organization tasked with operating it —is volatile. 

The power grid powers 90% of the state. However, ERCOT requires a flawless balance between supply and demand. If the power grid has more power than necessary and not enough buyers then that would be as bad as if everyone in Texas fired up their AC units on the same day in Summer.

Keeping a perfect balance has proven to be a serious challenge this year.

Meanwhile, the price of power per hour is becoming negative over time. Several blackouts occur now and then, and the peak power consumption isn’t a surprise anymore.

Cryptocurrency miners have the solution

However, cryptocurrency enthusiasts believe that they can fix this problem. Bitcoin and other crypto miners argued that they’ll get the additional power that the grid generates and it, therefore, won’t be put to waste. They added that whatever the time of the day, if additional electricity is available, then they’ll use it — making them the perfect flexible buyers for ERCOT.

Cryptocurrency mining is a power-intensive process. Mining one cryptocurrency requires CPUs to solve sophisticated math problems computationally. Therefore, the process requires intensive energy consumption — which they suggest won’t be harmful if it’s coming from additional power that the ERCOT grid provides.

During the Texas Blockchain Summit in October, Cruz pointed that Bitcoin miners can turn off their mining rigs within seconds. This feature makes crypto mining highly beneficial during times when energy is needed to meet the electric grid’s demand.

“If you have a moment where you have a power shortage or a power crisis, whether it’s a freeze or some other natural disaster where power generation capacity goes down, that creates the capacity to instantaneously shift that energy to put it back on the grid,” Cruz said of the ability of bitcoin miners to shut down their operations within seconds.

But not all are convinced that bitcoin miners are the solution.

“Miners are a strain on the grid, not a help,” said Ben Hertz-Shargel of Wood Mackenzie, a provider of commercial intelligence for the world’s natural resources sector. Hertz-Shargel is concerned that bitcoin mining would only raise peak demand, ultimately adding stress to the system.