US Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and John Fetterman have presented the Clean Cloud Act of 2025, intending to decrease carbon emissions from energy-intensive operations like crypto-mining and artificial intelligence data centers.
The bill enables the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish yearly carbon performance standards for facilities with more than 100 kilowatts of IT power. These standards will become stricter annually, with emissions limits decreasing by 11% each year.
Companies surpassing the set limits will be subject to an initial fee of $20 per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent, which will increase annually to adjust for inflation, adding an extra $10 per ton. Moreover, the bill mandates stringent accounting measures that include indirect emissions from the grid.
Whitehouse and Fetterman argue that crypto-mining and AI centers are intensifying power demand unsustainably, surpassing the capacity of current clean energy sources to keep up with the growth in Bitcoin mining demand.
They highlight that data centers alone consume 4% of electricity in the US and could potentially reach 12% by 2028. Additionally, utilities have resorted to restarting old coal plants to meet the escalating demand, exacerbating the country's carbon footprint.
Whitehouse emphasized that this situation is escalating electricity costs for consumers. He expressed that the bill aims to push tech companies towards investing in clean energy and assisting in achieving a net-zero emissions US power grid within the next decade.
To safeguard low-income households, 25% of the revenue from emissions penalties will offset energy expenses, while the remainder will finance grants for long-duration storage and clean energy projects.
Simultaneously, this initiative aligns with the ongoing shift in the crypto industry towards sustainable energy sources. A recent report from the MiCA Crypto Alliance indicates that renewable energy powered 41% of Bitcoin mining by the end of 2024, doubling from 20% in 2011.
The report forecasts that renewables could support more than 70% of mining operations by 2030, driven by cost-effectiveness, evolving regulations, and a broader move towards environmentally friendly practices.