DOE agreement may revive review of crypto energy use

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reached a legal agreement Friday requiring it to seek public input before collecting data on the energy use of crypto mining, following litigation from the industry.

The settlement between the Biden administration, a cryptocurrency association and a crypto mining company comes a week after a federal court forced EIA to temporarily halt a White House-approved emergency process for data collection.

Under the agreement, the agency agreed to seek public comment on its proposal to survey crypto mining companies on their energy use before asking the White House to approve new information gathering. The deal scraps an earlier authorization to proceed with a provisional survey without first seeking public input.

EIA — an independent arm of the Department of Energy — also agreed to destroy all information about crypto mining companies collected as part of the initial data request.