Texas Bitcoin Miners Sue Energy Department Over Data Inquiry (1)

The Texas Blockchain Council, an industry association for Bitcoin miners including Riot Platforms Inc., is suing the US Department of Energy’s statistics unit over a mandatory survey on their power consumption.

The inquiry by the Energy Information Administration is “an unprecedented and illegal data collection demand” against the industry, the group said in a statement dated Feb. 22. Riot, one of the largest Bitcoin miners in the state, made $71 million last year, in part from prepurchasing electricity for its operations and selling some of it back to the grid for a premium amid power shortages.

In a response to ...