US energy secretary floats faster direct grid access for AI and crypto miners
S. Matthew Schultz, the CEO of Bitcoin mining company CleanSpark, said the new rules would create expedited connections for Bitcoin mining and data centers.
The US energy secretary has urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to write new rules enabling big electricity consumers, such as AI data centers and Bitcoin mining operations, to connect directly and quickly to the power grid.
In a letter released on Thursday, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright asked the FERC, the independent agency that regulates the interstate electricity grid, to grant expedited reviews and create standardized procedures for large electricity users to hook directly into the high-voltage transmission system.
The high-voltage transmission system has a bigger capacity than local grids and typically large industrial facilities that consume power at a higher rate plug directly into it.
