U.S. Department of Energy Agrees To Stop Gathering Information on Crypto Mining Following Lawsuit

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is agreeing to stop gathering data about the energy usage rates of crypto mining firms.

In a new court filing, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which tracks statistics for the DOE, says it will not only halt gathering the data, it will destroy all information it has already collected or will receive as a result of its survey.

“Defendants agree that EIA will destroy any information that it has already received in response to the EIA-862 Emergency Survey.

If EIA receives additional information in response to the EIA-862 Emergency Survey, EIA will destroy that data. EIA will sequester and keep confidential any information it has received or will receive in response to the EIA-862 Emergency Survey until it is destroyed.”

The parties involved view the agreement as a compromise where no wrongdoing is admitted.

Late last month, the EIA agreed to pause the collection of energy data after it was hit with a lawsuit by crypto mining firm Riot as well as the Texas Blockchain Council (TBC).

According to the plaintiffs, the EIA attempted to strongarm them and other mining companies into answering the energy consumption survey by allegedly threatening them with criminal fines and civil penalties if they did not comply.

As stated in the lawsuit,

“[The] EIA has moved forward with its information collection and is demanding – under the explicit threat of criminal fines and civil penalties – that certain companies, including Riot and many other TBC members, reply to the survey no later than February 23rd, 2024.”

The survey was first proposed in early February as a means of examining the energy ramifications of mining virtual currencies.

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