Odaily Planet Daily News: As Bitcoin miners continue to increase their production capacity, the Russian Ministry of Energy is considering cutting off the power supply to crypto miners in the event of energy shortages. Earlier, it was reported that Russian crypto miners produced about $3.5 billion worth of Bitcoin last year. Vedomosti quoted Russian Deputy Energy Minister Yevgeny Grabchak as saying that electricity suppliers should have the right to "cut off" the "power supply" to miners "at any time." However, Grabchak reiterated what the Russian Ministry of Energy said earlier this year. Officials claimed last month that power companies may soon provide excess electricity to miners. "Miners are a new category of consumers. We are actively discussing these issues. We don't always have peak electricity usage. When there is no large load on the grid, the grid usually has idle capacity." Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev said in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this month that cryptocurrency miners "should be prepared to move to areas of the country where there is no energy shortage." At the same time, Grabchak said that the industry will be allowed to choose whether to self-limit its electricity use or use "automatic" IT solutions. He explained: “If there is no capacity shortage - which has been the case for most of this year - we may be able to make excess capacity available to some consumers. But this can only be done if they limit their consumption. Alternatively, they can install automatic solutions that disconnect them from the grid.” (Cryptonews)