BC Hydro permanently bans cryptocurrency mining to protect power supply
“Our new allocation framework will prioritize vital growth in sectors like mining, natural gas and lowest-emission LNG, while ensuring our clean energy is directed to projects that deliver the greatest benefit to British Columbians.”
This will help preserve electricity capacity for sectors such as mining, LNG, critical minerals, manufacturing, and clean technology, all of which rely on affordable power to remain globally competitive.
According to the provincial government, electricity demand from industrial and emerging sectors has reached record levels, with nearly 6,800 megawatts of proposed new load — more than six times the capacity of the newly completed Site C hydroelectric dam project.
As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized, BC Hydro first paused new service requests from cryptocurrency miners in late 2022 after a flood of applications threatened to strain the province’s transmission system and capacity. At the time, about 21 projects representing more than 1,400 megawatts of demand were awaiting approval — equivalent to the electricity needed for 570,000 homes or 2.3 million battery-electric vehicles annually.
While resource industries are being prioritized for access to BC Hydro’s electricity, the provincial government is also developing a new allocation framework to guide power use in energy-intensive emerging sectors like artificial intelligence (AI), data centres, and hydrogen production.
Other jurisdictions in Canada and abroad have faced mounting challenges from energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining. The practice often produces limited local economic return, but such businesses are attracted to B.C. due to the availability of relatively cheap hydroelectricity.
Cryptocurrency mining, such as Bitcoin, uses a very substantial amount of electricity to operate high-powered computers around the clock, which perform complex cryptographic and math problems to verify transactions. High electricity needs are the result of not only running the racks of computers, but also providing extreme cooling, given the significant heat produced.
Earlier this year, Vancouver mayor Ken Sim suggested the idea that the excess heat of cryptocurrency mining computers, such as Bitcoin, could be used to heat the swimming pool waters of Vancouver’s aquatic centres, such as the future new Kitsilano Outdoor Pool.
In recent years, several U.S. states and Canadian provinces have imposed temporary moratoriums or stricter regulations on crypto mining to prevent grid strain and carbon emissions. British Columbia, by contrast, is the first province to make such a ban permanent.
Emerging sectors such as AI and data processing will still have opportunities to access clean power, but under strict limits and through a competitive process managed by BC Hydro, beginning in January 2026.
The ban is also designed to prevent the kinds of electricity price spikes and reliability challenges seen in parts of the world that allowed rapid crypto-mining growth.
Site C hydroelectric dam, August 2025. (BC Hydro)
In Summer 2023, BC Hydro revealed that the province would require significantly more electricity capacity — and much sooner than previously forecast — with new demand expected to outpace supply as early as 2028. The surge is being driven by rapid economic expansion, industrial development, population growth, the electrification of buildings, and the accelerating adoption of battery-electric vehicles.
The new projections even take into account the additional capacity from the Site C hydroelectric dam. The revised outlook marks a dramatic shift from earlier assessments made under the BC NDP-led provincial government, which once questioned the need for Site C and nearly shelved the project during its early years in power.
To help close the looming supply gap, BC Hydro launched a major procurement process to bring new renewable energy projects onto the grid. By late 2024, the utility had selected approximately 10 wind power projects, representing a combined investment of up to $6 billion — equivalent to just over half the capacity of Site C. Many of these projects will be owned by local First Nations.
Further procurements are possible as the province works to expand its clean-energy portfolio and meet the growing demand.
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