The Texas Blockchain Council (TBC) and mining company Riot Platforms have taken legal action against the Energy Information Administration (EIA) over its attempt to collect information on energy usage from cryptocurrency miners. In a filing on February 22, the TBC and Riot accused the U.S. Department of Energy, EIA, Office of Management and Budget, and their leadership of seeking to gather “invasive” data from crypto miners. The lawsuit was filed before the February 23 deadline, which threatened fines and penalties for non-compliance with an EIA survey on mining companies’ electricity usage. The TBC argued that the data collection was politically motivated and claimed that requiring mining firms to provide potentially contractual information to the government and make it public would be an overreach of authority. The group singled out Senator Elizabeth Warren and the White House for orchestrating the EIA’s actions and requested a temporary restraining order to halt the data collection. Texas Blockchain Council President Lee Bratcher stated that the legal challenge was not just about resisting a single request for proprietary information, but about defending against a broader pattern of regulatory overreach that could harm innovation and economic growth. The Department of Energy classified the collection of data from crypto miners as an “emergency” request in an effort to gain a “baseline snapshot” of miners’ energy consumption nationwide. Critics of the Energy Department’s actions have questioned the urgency of the data collection, suggesting that policymakers could use the information for politically motivated attacks on Bitcoin (BTC) and the crypto industry. Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, a supporter of pro-crypto legislation in Congress, sent a letter to OMB Director Shalanda Young on February 20, questioning the motivation behind the EIA survey. Emmer suggested that the Biden administration was prioritizing climate change policies at the expense of crypto miners. A hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for 5:30 pm UTC on February 23 in Texas. Cointelegraph reached out to Senator Warren’s office for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Energy officials facing lawsuit from Texas Blockchain Council and Riot Platforms over crypto mining data