The Canadian province of Manitoba has extended a moratorium on new applications to government agency Manitoba Hydro to provide electric service to cryptocurrency operations. British Columbia (BC) had a similar service suspension and chose a different, but also restrictive, path forward.
Manitoba's extension of the pause applies to new requests from cryptocurrency diggers and "requests for electric services that have not resulted in an infrastructure construction contract."
In November 2022, the provincial government halted electrical connections to cryptocurrency mines for 18 months. Now the pause will last until April 30, 2026, during which time the province plans to prepare a long-term solution, the announcement said, adding:
"Manitoba Hydro continues to expect unprecedented demand for electricity due to new or expanding cryptocurrency operations. This demand could dramatically increase our total electric load."
In 2022. Manitoba Hydro's then CEO Jay Grewal said: "If we had connected every cryptocurrency operator that showed interest in the last 16 months, we would have increased our total electric load by 4,600 megawatts." The organization's total capacity at the time was 6100 megawatts.
Hydro-Québec has proposed a temporary curtailment of electricity supply to crypto operations in November 2022. New Brunswick has banned the supply of electricity to new crypto operations in November 2023.
December 2022. British Columbia announced that it would stop making connections with new cryptocurrency miners for 18 months. The decision affected 21 projects. On April 11, the British Columbia government said it had amended the Utilities Commission Act to regulate electricity services for cryptocurrency miners.
