Taking the ban on cryptocurrency mining out of the energy regulation bill is a Pennsylvania House Representative.

Taking the ban on cryptocurrency mining out of the energy regulation bill is a Pennsylvania House Representative.

A bill intended to control the energy consumption of the industry was amended by a Pennsylvania House Representative to remove a proposed two-year ban on cryptocurrency mining.

The Cryptocurrency Energy Conservation Act was narrowly passed by the Pennsylvania House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee on Monday with 13 votes in favor and 12 against.

Since the Committee's introduction of the bill on June 21, nothing has changed.

The removal is prompted by pressure from Democratic Party leaders.

Democratic Representative Greg Vitali, who is also the bill's sponsor and the chair of the committee, claimed in a statement to regional media outlet The Pennsylvania Capital-Star that he was under pressure from Democratic Party leaders to strike the moratorium from the bill.

Building trade labor unions, according to Vitali, were to blame for the influence because they consistently opposed environmental policies and had a big influence on his Democratic colleagues.

"Truthfully, [the unions] have the ear of House Democrats, and they have the power to expel members who would otherwise support sound environmental policy. ".

He expressed worry that opposing the unions would jeopardize the Democratic majority in the Pennsylvania House, which led him to decide to pass the bill without the moratorium.

Strong environmental policies lacked widespread support, Vitali acknowledged, as he had discovered during his first six months as majority chair.

Even though he was disappointed, he insisted that passing the bill even without the ban was preferable to not passing it at all.

The proposed two-year ban would have put a stop to the granting of new and renewed licenses to run cryptocurrency mining facilities.

Instead, the amended bill imposes new reporting requirements and now calls for an impact study on miner operations.

Within six months, miners in the state are required to provide data on the number and size of their mining sites, their use of energy, their emissions reports, and their energy and water consumption.

These reports must be submitted each year by crypto miners operating in Pennsylvania, and they must also be submitted at the outset of operations by new miners.

Alternative Energy Sources are being sought by cryptocurrency miners.

The decision to lift the ban is being made as cryptocurrency miners look actively for cheaper energy sources.

Notably, the cryptocurrency mining firm Stronghold Digital Mining has established operations in Pennsylvania and purchased two coal-burning power plants with the intention of using plant waste to power hundreds of Bitcoin mining rigs.

When the company first proposed burning shredded tires to meet up to 15% of its energy needs, local environmental groups vehemently opposed the idea.

TeraWulf, another Bitcoin mining company, also runs a nuclear-powered facility in Pennsylvania.

As previously mentioned, miners seeking long-term success seem to be moving toward alternative energy sources.

.