HV power lines delayed due to court ruling
Energy officials started cooking up what they call "national interest electric transmission corridors" six years ago. That's when Congress proposed a law to create a fast-track process that would direct more electricity to big cities.
Some corridors would cut through the Southwest United States, including California's Mojave Desert. Almost immediately, environmental groups and state energy authorities objected.
The Wilderness Society and other activists said that federal environmental laws require more scrutiny when the government designates large swaths of land for construction. States including California objected that the federal Department of Energy didn't consult with local authorities.
More than a dozen separate lawsuits about these fast-track transmission corridors have been making their way through courts. Now a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has sided with the environmentalists and the states.
The ruling means the energy department must back up and re-start studies about which cities need the most power – and which lands need the most protection.
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Bitcoin mining uses so much electricity that 1 city could curtail facility's power during heat waves
MEDICINE HAT - On the day of the grand opening of the largest bitcoin mining project in the country, the weather was partly cloudy and 15 C. On a Friday afternoon like this one, the new facility uses as much electricity as all of Medicine Hat, Alta., a city of more than 60,000 people and home to several large industrial plants.
The vast amount of electricity needed for bitcoin mining is why the city of Medicine Hat has championed the economic benefits of the project, while environmentalists say they are wary of the significant energy use.
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