The Texas Blockchain Council, which includes Riot, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy over its investigation into Bitcoin miners.

Riot Platform and the Texas Blockchain Council (TBC), a non-profit association, have taken legal action against the U.S. Department of Energy, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Regarding the recent move to investigate Bitcoin miners.

According to a Feb. 22 court filing, the miners said they wanted to stop what they deemed “illegal emergency data collection” activities, alleging:

“This is a case of sloppy government processes, artificial and self-inflicted urgency, and intrusive government data collection.”

TBC President Lee Bratcher said:

“Bitcoin miners are the most flexible load on any grid, so it is clear that this investigation is not about grid stability, but rather a targeted political effort led by people like: elizabeth warren.“

On January 31, the EIA announced its intention to collect information on the energy consumption of US-based cryptocurrency miners. EIA justified the OMB-approved survey as an emergency data collection measure, claiming that U.S. miners accounted for about 2.3% of total U.S. electricity demand in 2023.

Miners compete over EIA moves.

Miners question the legitimacy of this data collection process, calling it a haphazard and intrusive government procedure.

They alleged violations of the Paperwork Reduction Act during the application and approval process and accused the agencies of acting “arbitrarily and capriciously” in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

The miners argued that the survey would harm them by disclosing confidential, sensitive and proprietary information to the EIA. So they want the court to prohibit these agencies from collecting this information and destroy any information they may have collected from miners.

In addition to opposition from cryptocurrency miners, several US lawmakers have expressed concerns about the Energy Department’s actions. House Majority Leader Tom Emmer said: called OMB’s explanation for using emergency powers to target Bitcoin miners emphasized that Bitcoin mining does not pose a threat to public safety.