British Columbia, Canada, advances bill to limit AI power use and permanently ban virtual asset mining

British Columbia (BC), Canada, is advancing a bill to limit power use by artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and to permanently ban new virtual asset (cryptocurrency) mining operations.

According to Bloomberg on the 21st (local time), the BC government said it will prioritize grid connections for industries that generate significant employment and tax revenue, such as mining and natural gas facilities. The Ministry of Energy explained, "In some U.S. states, AI industry power demand has surged, increasing pressure to raise rates," and "BC is also seeing a rapid rise in similar power requests."

The provincially owned utility BC Hydro plans to allocate 300 megawatts to the AI sector and 100 megawatts to general data centers over the next two years through a competitive bidding process in early 2026. In contrast, no supply limits will be placed on the mining, oil, gas, manufacturing, and hydrogen industries.

BC suspended new connections for virtual asset mining in 2022, and the government intends to make the measure, which had been deferred until 2024, permanent through this bill. The government pointed out that virtual asset mining "consumes excessive power but yields limited economic benefits."