Bitcoin Miners' Emergency Brake Fades as Hashprice Recovers

Texas's power grid set an all-time electricity demand record twice in two days last week. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) served a preliminary 91,308 megawatts around 5 p.m. on July 22, one day after demand hit 87,403 megawatts and erased the 85,508-megawatt mark that had stood since August 10, 2023.

The grid operator credited Bitcoin miners with saving the Texas power grid from collapse by reducing their energy consumption during peak hours. The voluntary curtailment agreements ERCOT has built with large customers, including crypto mining facilities and data centers, played a crucial role in maintaining balance on the grid.

Riot Platforms demonstrated this flexibility during the August 2023 heat wave in Texas, when the company told the SEC it had curtailed more than 95% of its power usage during peak demand periods. The arrangement has held through a far weaker market since, with $56.7 million in credits across 2025 and another $21 million in the first quarter of 2026.

However, this shift towards curtailing energy consumption comes at a cost. As hashprice recovers to around $32 from its low of $27.20 in early June, mining revenue is no longer as attractive, making it cheaper for miners to shut down during peak hours. This could strip away the emergency brake that Bitcoin miners had provided to the grid.