TEXAS — As Texas faced — and continues to face — another summer of brutal heat, energy consumption is a major concern for the state and its residents. To help avoid a grid failure, the state asked bitcoin mining company Riot to conserve energy this August in exchange for $31.7 million in energy credits.

Riot, one of the largest U.S. based publicly-traded bitcoin miners in North America, reports that it reduced its power usage in the month of August by about 95% during peak energy demand to provide power resources to the grid.

"The Company’s curtailment of operations meaningfully contributed to reducing overall power demand in ERCOT, helping to ensure that consumers did not experience interruptions in service," a statement from Riot reads.

The $31.7 million offered to the company far exceeded the amount Riot mined in August, which totaled to about $8.9 million, or 333 bitcoin. 

But this doesn't mean Texas is out of the woods yet for energy usage this summer. On Wednesday evening, ERCOT issued a Weather Watch for triple-digit heat. Later that evening, the grid was in emergency mode as blackouts were narrowly avoided. 

The Texas power grid has been strained this summer as the heat continues to break records. July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded in the U.S., and summer 2023 as a whole has been the hottest on record.