British Columbia Permanently Bans New Crypto Mining Projects
British Columbia has enacted a permanent ban on new cryptocurrency mining operations to protect its power grid. The province's new legislation aims to allocate electricity more efficiently among high-growth sectors, including artificial intelligence and data centers. Authorities emphasize prioritizing industries with stronger economic benefits and job creation, such as natural gas and mining.
The government will restrict power allocation for AI data centers to 300 megawatts, with an additional 100 megawatts reserved for general data center use. This competitive allocation process begins in early 2026. For context, Meta's planned Texas data center alone may consume up to 1 gigawatt—highlighting the scale of energy demands from tech infrastructure.
