“They’re going to put our grid at risk because of the power they’re drawing,” said state Sen. José Menéndez (D-San Antonio) at a public hearing on June 12.

For more than six hours, senators on the Business and Commerce Committee pressed grid operators, public utility commissioners and representatives from industries, including manufacturing, oil and gas and cryptocurrency. Chief among legislators’ concerns was the massive growth in energy demand on the state’s main electrical grid, which is estimated to go from a peak demand of about 85,000 megawatts last year to 150,000 megawatts in 2030, according to estimates from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.