There is approximately 2 gigawatts (GW) of cryptocurrency load capacity within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). As of mid-2022, ERCOT had 33 GW of cryptocurrency mining in its interconnection queue. The potential increase in power demand was so high that ERCOT established a new interim process and a special task force for determining new rules for interconnecting large loads, such as cryptocurrency mining operations.
The question for the debate is the following:
This question will be the subject of an Oxford-style public debate hosted by three groups at the University of Texas at Austin - the Energy Institute, KBH Energy Center for Business, Law and Policy, and Planet Texas 2050.
We’ll hear from experts both for and against expanding cryptocurrency mining in Texas, considering factors related to the environment, economy, equity, and accountability. The audience will vote on their position before and after the debate, and the winner will be the team that changes their numbers the most between votes.
Light bites and refreshments will be served.
James K. Galbraith holds the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and a professorship in Government at The University of Texas at Austin. He was executive director of the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress in the early 1980s, and before that, an economist for the House Banking Committee. He chaired the board of Economists for Peace and Security from 1996 to 2016 and directs The University of Texas Inequality Project. He is a managing editor of Structural Change and Economic Dynamics.
From 1993 to 1997 Galbraith served as chief technical adviser for Macroeconomic Reform to the State Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China. In 2010, he was elected to the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. In 2014 he was co-winner of the Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economics. In 2020 he received the Veblen-Commons Award of the Association for Evolutionary Economics. He holds degrees from Harvard University (AB, magna cum laude), in economics from Yale University (M.A., M.Phil, Ph.D.), and academic honors from universities in Ecuador, France and the Russian Federation. He is a Marshall Scholar; a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Texas Philosophical Society; and a member of the Free Economic Society, an organization of economists in Russia, chartered by Catherine the Great in 1765.
Adrian Shelley is the director of Public Citizen’s Texas office. Shelley is an expert in issues revolving around clean air, environmental and energy policy and all things Texas. He has worked in the field of Clean Air Act litigation, as the environmental policy director for a state representative and as the executive director of Air Alliance Houston, an air quality and public health nonprofit organization. Shelley has served as president of the Environmental Law Society and editor of the Texas Environmental Law Journal. He was also the environmental director and counsel for State Rep. Jessica Farrar during the 82nd session of the Texas Legislature. He is a two-time recipient of the Texas Legal Fellowship, a recipient of the Joe R. and Teresa L. Long Legal Fellowship and a recipient of the University Co-op Public Interest Award for Graduating Students. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in English and philosophy from Trinity University, cum laude and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.
Gideon O. Powell is the Chairman & CEO of Cholla Inc. Chollas vision is to leverage its venture mindset and operating capabilities to be the partner of choice in the discovery and development of energy resources that are transformational and environmentally responsible.
Under Gideon’s leadership, Cholla has continued a tradition of hydrocarbon exploration while expanding into other innovative energy market solutions such as carbon utilization, Bitcoin mining, and renewable energy development. From 2013-2017 Gideon was the Director of Acquisitions & New Ventures at Cholla, where he led the company's entrance into the Permian basin of West Texas, leading to a step change in growth for Cholla and later a substantial exit.
In early 2017 Gideon stepped away from his day to role at Cholla to study the global power markets for investable CO2 utilization projects. Through this work he and his team identified bitcoin mining and high performance computing as an opportunity to provide dispatchable electrical capacity to local grids, alleviating the intermittency problems caused by renewable energy. Autonomous LLC was created as Cholla bitcoin mining investment company. Autonomous built multiple HPC & Bitcoin facilities. In late 2017 the company acquired raw land in West Texas and developed HODL Ranch 1, the world’s first hyperscale greenfield campus for Bitcoin mining. Subsequent to HODL Ranch divesting its 1st 100 megawatt project to a silicon valley company, Gideon rejoined Cholla as its President & COO to lead the company’s new vision, exploration efforts, and capabilities expansion.
Gideon is passionate about exploration, global energy markets, bottom up innovation, individual liberty, and building strong communities. He spends his spare time on supporting criminal justice reform, reading, and enjoying time with friends and family. He is actively involved as an adviser to Buried Alive, an initiative focused on ending mass incarceration in America and is a member of Stand Together, a philanthropic organization that empowers people dedicated to helping others improve their lives. Gideon serves on the Advisory Board of the MIT Energy Club and resides in Dallas, Texas with his beautiful, smart, patient, liberty minded wife and four amazing children.
Cesare Fracassi is the Chief Economist of the Coinbase Institute and the director of economic research at Coinbase. Cesare is also a member of the State of Texas Work Group on Blockchain Matters. Cesare is on leave from the position of associate professor of finance, the director of the Blockchain Initiative at the McCombs School of Business - University of Texas at Austin, and the Fintech Research Lab. His primary research interest is in blockchain, financial technology, and corporate finance. His research, published in the top Finance journals, includes work on fintech, corporate governance, credit rating agencies, small business financing, and the effects of social networks and culture on financial policies. He also taught courses on fintech to undergrad, MBA, MSF, MSBA, and MSIT students, corporate finance and valuation to MBA students, and empirical corporate finance to PhD students. Cesare holds a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano (Italy), and an MBA and PhD in Finance from UCLA Anderson. He was a visiting professor at the Wharton School in 2012/2013. Before his MBA, he worked as strategic management consultant at Booz Allen and Roland Berger in Italy, and as summer intern at the United Nations in New York.
Dr. Carey W King is a Research Scientist at The University of Texas at Austin and Assistant Director at the Energy Institute. He also has affiliations within the McCombs School of Business and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. He performs interdisciplinary research related to how energy systems interact within the economy and environment as well as how our policy and social systems can make decisions and tradeoffs among these often competing factors. He is the author of the book The Economic Superorganism: Beyond the Competing Narratives on Energy, Growth, and Policy.
- You can tune in via this public Zoom link
- To view the talk on YouTube, there are two options:
1. Click: https://www.youtube.com/user/utenergyinstitute/ to take you to the HOME page of the Energy Institute’s YouTube page.
The Webinar will be listed as a video thumbnail with the word “LIVE NOW” in the window. Click on that thumbnail.
2. Click: https://www.youtube.com/user/utenergyinstitute/videos
Then if needed, select the “Live Streams” option next to “All Videos”. The Webinar will be listed as a video thumbnail with the word “LIVE NOW” in the window. Click on that thumbnail to watch the video.
If you do not see the video with either of the options above, the webinar might not be yet started. Also, you might need to refresh your browser to see the option for the live video.
Pay to Park
The Austin Central Library features two levels of underground parking with 140 public parking spaces. The entrance is on West Avenue. Parking is not validated. If the lot is full try City Hall or use your favorite parking app.
Street Parking
There is metered street parking on nearby streets. City pay stations accept credit cards, debit cards, and change. See the City of Austin's Parking page for more information.
