How much electricity does Bitcoin mining use?

Bitcoin mining electricity use is large but can only be estimated. The most cited figure, from the University of Cambridge's 2025 Digital Mining Industry Report, is about 138 terawatt-hours a year, up 17% from the year before and roughly 0.54% of all electricity used worldwide. Other trackers, using different assumptions, report higher numbers.

How much electricity does Bitcoin mining use each year?

Cambridge's 138 TWh estimate comes from its 2025 report. The US Energy Information Administration puts that scale in context. Its February 2024 analysis found that even its low-end estimate of US mining use, 25 TWh a year, matched the annual electricity use of whole states such as Utah or West Virginia.

The EIA identified 137 US mining facilities, mostly in Texas, Georgia and New York. For the 101 where it found maximum power use, total capacity came to about 10,275 MW, around 2.3% of average US demand. It stressed that the high end measures capacity, not energy actually used.

How is Bitcoin energy consumption calculated?

The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) starts from the network's hashrate, the total computing work miners perform. It then assumes miners only run machines that are profitable at an average power price of 5 US cents per kWh.

It publishes three figures. The lower bound assumes every miner uses the most efficient hardware available. The upper bound assumes the least efficient machines that still make money. The best guess uses a weighted mix of profitable models, phasing out machines over five years. It also adds an allowance for cooling and other overhead, with a best-guess power usage effectiveness of 1.10. Our guide to what is hashrate explains the input these models rely on.

Why do crypto mining electricity consumption estimates differ?

Different methods give different answers. Digiconomist's index works from miner revenue rather than hardware, assuming a large share of income is spent on electricity at 5 cents per kWh. Viewed in November 2026, its page showed about 204 TWh a year, though its last update appeared to date from mid-2025.

Per-transaction figures are especially contested. Digiconomist divides network energy by transaction count and gets about 731 kWh per transaction. Because it is a simple division, that figure rises or falls with the number of transactions even when the energy spent on mining stays the same.

Can Bitcoin mining use less electricity at times?

Yes. Miners can switch off quickly, and Cambridge reported that surveyed miners curtailed 888 GWh of load in 2023, which it presents as evidence they can act as flexible loads for grid operators. This flexibility is one reason miners cluster in places like Texas, explained in why is Texas a hub for bitcoin mining. Where that electricity comes from, and what it means for emissions, is covered in is crypto bad for the environment.