U.S. Grid Operator Approves Demand-Response Program for Bitcoin Miners, Offering Up to 100 MW of Curtailable Capacity

31 October 2026

PJM's 2026 guidelines provide an institutionalized pathway for bitcoin miners to curtail their own loads during peak demand

Grid operator PJM has formalized a suite of rules for crypto mining facilities in its demand-response market, giving bitcoin miners access to an institutionalized pathway to provide curtailable capacity and earn additional revenue.

The guidelines, published on June 7, 2026, come as crypto miners have already been participating in demand-response markets and grid-service providers like Voltus have been partnering with miners to deliver large-scale curtailment capacity to the grid.

The 2026 rules give PJM regulators a procedure for vetting crypto loads and pricing their participation based on a cost-recovery calculation. Penalty hours where miners fail to curtail as requested will be removed from payments in settlements.

Crypto miners are attractive demand-response assets because their power-intensive computing loads are interruptible and can be switched on and off on demand.

Mawson's Pilot Program

In February 2022, Voltus and Mawson Infrastructure Group announced plans to deliver up to 100 MW of curtailable capacity to the PJM electricity grid from Mawson's new bitcoin mining facility in Midland, Pennsylvania.

Under the plan, Mawson planned to have 50 MW of capacity available by March 2022 and another 50 MW by June. According to Mawson, the facility's capacity was expected to be available to PJM's grid operators around the clock through Voltus' software platform.

These large curtailable loads from the Mawson facility were among the first Bitcoin miners in the U.S. to provide grid-balancing capacity at scale, and the project demonstrated both the regulators' willingness to allocate resources for this purpose and the miners' interest in participating.

Four years later, that experiment has solidified. In 2026, a 100 MW facility in PJM can curtail its load, earn additional revenue, and help balance the grid during peak times, which often creates more value for the facility than consuming electricity and mining at full power regardless of grid conditions.

For the grid operator, this mechanism creates new opportunities to protect against overloads and potential failures due to surges in power demand. The miners adjust their load not to maximize mining revenue, but to strategically provide curtailment according to the grid's needs. This enables capacity that would otherwise be entirely used for mining to become available for grid balancing - it can be dialed up or down as needed.

For market operators, the miners create a valuable new category of demand-response capability available to participate at large scales. The miner earns additional revenue and is incentivized to align with the grid needs over higher mining returns - which benefits the overall market. Market operators gain a new capability to rebalance supply and demand.

In the broader landscape of U.S. policy, PJM's 2026 move stands as a concrete example of policy that directly aligns crypto miners' electricity usage with the grid's demand in an institutionally formal and predictable way. This represents a significant development in energy policy for crypto mining that connects miners' incentives directly with the grid's operational requirements.

In June 2026, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that cryptocurrency miners have become regular participants in demand-response programs around the country. The report cited the PJM example, as well as others like the California Independent System Operator, which incentivizes large electricity consumers to curtail during peak-demand periods.

With crypto miners now a formally recognized demand-response tool in at least one major U.S. grid, other regional transmission organizations may begin to adopt similar programs. Miners can earn additional revenue, grid operators gain access to new flexible assets, and market operators obtain an additional tool to balance loads and prevent overloads.