Description: Lawsuit brought by cryptocurrency industry plaintiffs to challenge the Energy Information Administration's emergency request for energy information from cryptocurrency mining companies.
Texas Blockchain Council v. Department of Energy
Docket number(s): 6:24-cv-00099
Court/Admin Entity: W.D. Tex.
Case Documents:
| Filing Date | Type | File | Action Taken | Summary |
|---|
| 03/01/2024 | Settlement Agreement | Download | Notice of agreement filed by the parties. | One Week After Filing of Lawsuit, Department of Energy Agreed to Withdraw Emergency Request for Cryptocurrency Energy Information . On February 26, 2024, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) notified the Office of Management and Budget that it was immediately discontinuing the emergency collection of information and would instead proceed through the Paperwork Reduction Act’s notice-and-comment procedures. On March 1, the plaintiffs and defendants filed a notice memorializing an agreement that provides that EIA will destroy any information already received or received in the future pursuant to the emergency request. In addition, EIA will publish a new notice of proposed collection of information, and the plaintiffs and a proposed intervenor (Chamber of Digital Commerce) will withdraw the request for a preliminary injunction and not pursue further relief regarding the emergency collection request. The parties asked the court to stay and administratively close the case. |
| 02/27/2024 | Amicus Brief | Download | Amicus brief submitted by Sierra Club. | |
| 02/23/2024 | Order | Download | Motion for temporary restraining order granted. | The court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) barring the defendants from collecting data and directing the defendants to sequester and not share any data already received. The court found that the plaintiffs established that irreparable injury would result without a TRO based on their allegations of nonrecoverable costs of compliance, a credible threat of prosecution for failure to comply with the information collection request, and disclosure of proprietary information. The court also found that the plaintiffs were likely to be able to show that the defendants’ support for an emergency request fell “far short of justifying such an action” and that the balance of harms favored granting a TRO. |
| 02/22/2024 | Complaint | Download | Complaint filed. | A cryptocurrency industry group and a company that conducts bitcoin mining operations at a Texas facility filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the Western District of Texas asserting that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Office of Management and Budget violated the Paperwork Reduction Act and Administrative Procedure Act when EIA issued an information request for energy information from cryptocurrency mining companies. The plaintiffs alleged that EIA based its request for emergency approval of the information collection on a “facially absurd” contention that “public harm” would otherwise result due to potential strains on the electric grid that could result from increased energy consumption arising from mining activity and a “major cold snap.” The plaintiffs alleged that the emergency information collection request “was driven by forces outside of EIA”; they emphasized an excerpt from President Biden’s Executive Order 14067, “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets,” which expressed the U.S.’s interest in ensuring that digital asset technologies operate in a way that “reduces negative climate impacts and environmental pollution.” The complaint also cited concerns raised by certain senators and House of Representatives members regarding cryptocurrency’s impacts on climate change. |
FAQs
CASE SUMMARY
On behalf of the Texas Blockchain Council and Riot Platforms, Inc., NCLA persuaded the the Department of Energy (DOE) and Energy Information Administration (EIA) to end an attempt to force cryptocurrency mining companies to hand over sensitive information through a mandatory survey.
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The Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities Survey, Form EIA-862, uses facility-level reporting to provide a baseline snapshot of the cryptocurrency mining companies in the sample and their energy use, quantify the rate of change in cryptocurrency mining activity among the companies and their facilities, identify electricity ...
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In 2016, Walmart began the development of a solution for tracing grocery products using blockchain. Along with IBM, the company launched the Walmart Food Traceability Initiative. For that to function, suppliers had to include information about each purchase from farmers or manufacturers in the blockchain.
