Washington State residents are applauding B.C. for the moves the provincial government is making to safeguard energy consumption in the province.
The Government of B.C. announced that it’s launching a new set of actions to drive investment in projects to grow the economy in major technological sectors.
In a media release from the energy ministry, the province outlined opportunities in B.C.’s traditional natural resource sectors like mining, natural gas and LNG and emerging sectors like data centres and artificial intelligence.
“The success of proposed major projects hinges on access to reliable, clean electricity at a competitive industrial rate.”
While B.C. is going to do what it can to support emerging sectors like AI, it’s also going to put limits on the energy those sectors have access to.
The province’s news release says the government will be “putting limits on the power available for data centres and AI, and enabling hydrogen production for export, prioritizing the most beneficial projects from these, with engagement on regulatory changes to begin in fall 2025.”
This news caught the attention of a Washington resident.
“British Columbia is putting limits on power usage for AI server farms. Washington must protect residents & existing businesses with limits on power consumption for artificial intelligence,” a Redditor wrote in a recent post.
The post received nearly 70 comments in response, with many agreeing with the original poster’s notion.
“B.C.’s limits on AI power use make sense. Washington should consider the same to protect residents and local businesses,” one user commented in response.
“100 per cent yes. The tech fascists will tell many lies, but in the end, we will be competing with them for power and water, and we will be paying for all of it,” another Redditor said.
As Daily Hive Urbanized reported, BC Hydro recently made another move in a similar vein, banning crypto mining to protect the province’s power supply.
The Government of British Columbia has moved to make its temporary ban on new cryptocurrency mining connections to BC Hydro’s electrical grid permanent, as part of a broader strategy to safeguard the province’s electricity supply and direct energy toward projects that generate jobs and long-term economic benefits.
BC Hydro’s crypto move is something another Washington resident suggested they wished their State would do.
They said, “Let’s add bitcoin mining to the list, shall we?”
However, most Washington residents aren’t hopeful their State could see these policies implemented, due to massive tech companies like Meta and Microsoft that are based in the region.
“With Microsoft and Boeing and Meta here, good f**king luck,” one Redditor quipped.
“Washington first needs to cut subsidies to billionaires and their companies before there’s any hope of squashing their lobbies, but that’s not gonna happen because our bourgeois government is completely on their dole,” they added.
With files from Kenneth Chan
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