Utility tariffs that name crypto mining: Idaho, North Dakota, Texas, BC

[strategiccryptoreserve]

Utility tariffs that now name crypto mining: what they mean for your power bill

More US utilities are writing large-load tariffs aimed at data centres, and a few of them name Bitcoin mining outright or set thresholds that catch mid-sized mining sites. If you run or plan hashrate, these change your real cost per kWh, your minimum-take commitments and how long you're locked in. Here are the ones most relevant to miners, each linked to a full breakdown:


Idaho: Idaho Power Schedule 20 ("Speculative High-Density Load")

• Written for speculative high-density loads and explicitly includes cryptocurrency mining.
• Effective January 1, 2024 (docket IPC-E-21-37).
• Details: Idaho large-load tariff breakdown

North Dakota: MDU High Density Contracted Demand Response Tariff

• Applies from 10 MW of high-density computer processing demand with an 85% minimum load factor, which is much lower than most states' thresholds and squarely in mining-site territory.
• Requires a contract with MDU. Two Applied Digital sites (including a 530 MW site in Ellendale) already run under this framework.
• Details: North Dakota large-load tariff breakdown

Texas: El Paso Electric Schedule 27 and SWEPCO's ES-LL contract

• Facilities with 75 MW or more of annual peak demand fall under El Paso Electric's new Schedule 27 High Load Factor Large Power Service, which comes with an annual load-factor requirement.
• Details: Texas large-load tariff breakdown

British Columbia: the opposite approach

• BC has permanently banned new grid connections for crypto mining. Existing small miners are on residential tiered rates, and anything past the Tier 1 allowance is billed at 14.08 cents/kWh (Tier 2).
• Real per-ASIC running costs at those rates, from our own small Comox Valley setup: BC Hydro rates for crypto mining 2026

Compare sites yourself (free)
We built a free calculator that applies each state's and province's power rates and large-load tariff rules to the same build, and returns CapEx, annual power cost and payback. It covers all 50 US states plus DC and nine Canadian provinces. No sign-up:
https://strategiccryptoreserve.ca/ai-build-configurator.html

Questions for miners here:

• Is anyone running under Idaho's Schedule 20 or MDU's tariff? How do the minimum-take terms work in practice?
• What all-in cost per kWh are you actually paying, and in which state or province?
• Which states should we break down next?

Disclosure: the calculator and the tariff pages are ours (Strategic Crypto Reserve). We've also applied for a grant to add crypto payments to the calculator: Questbook proposal. Feedback or support there is welcome but not the point of this thread. Figures are planning estimates from public tariff filings; confirm terms with the utility before committing capital.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

I see this more of blanket tariffs and rules mainly aimed at AI hyper data centers: most start at over 1GW. Compared to that crypto farms, while drawing 'only' up to several 100's of MW, still makes them a very significant load and the grid infra has to be able to support it. Crypto farms just happen to (rightly) fall into the same category as AI sites because of their very significant high-density loads.

Even the largest mining farms are just a fraction of what AI centers will pull from a states power grid. Case in point, Michigan has 5 AI centers under construction: The smallest has a final build out of 1.2GW and the largest will be 2.5GW.

The point of the new tarrifs is to set in stone who pays for the needed power and the infra to generate and carry it. In most states that is negotiated on a site by site basis. In Michigan after long negotiations with each company, the data centers are paying for all of the new transmission lines, substations, and any additional solar/wind/whatever power plants needed and rates are set so the Public does not pay for any of the power. Additionally, as is done in Texas, rules are setup regarding power cutbacks so power can be used elsewhere when needed to cover severe weather events.