Electricity supply for cryptocurrency mining

Law360 Canada (November 27, 2025, 10:28 AM EST) --

Sara Blake

Another province has restricted cryptocurrency miners’ access to the electricity supply: Blockchain Labrador Corporation v. Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities, 2025 NLCA 35.

Blockchain built and began to operate a cryptocurrency mining data centre in Wabush, Labrador. It applied to NL Hydro for 20 megawatts of firm power but NL Hydro said it could not supply that much and made an application to the board. As a temporary measure pending a final decision, the board approved a temporary service agreement which entitled Blockchain to be supplied with 7.75 megawatts of power on a temporary basis. This power had been committed to a mining operation but was not yet needed as the mine was not yet in full production.

The Electrical Power Control Act grants all hydro customers a right to open, non-discriminatory and non-preferential access to the electricity supply but authorizes the lieutenant governor in council to grant NL Hydro exemptions from this obligation.

While the NL Hydro application to the board was pending, the lieutenant governor in council made an Order in Council which exempted NL Hydro from supplying electricity to customers involved in cryptocurrency mining, subject to two exceptions. Blockchain did not meet the second exception, which granted legacy status to existing cryptocurrency customers of NL Hydro, because Blockchain had only the temporary service agreement that was set to expire when the board decided NL Hydro’s application. The first exception allowed for the supply of surplus electricity, if and when available, but the forecasted electricity needs left no surplus on a firm basis.

Blockchain did not challenge the validity of the Order in Council. Instead, it challenged the decision of the board which declared that NL Hydro is exempted from its statutory obligation to supply electricity to Blockchain on a firm basis.

Blockchain raised issues of procedural fairness and statutory interpretation which were dismissed by the court as being without merit.

The previous court decision was Conifex Timber Inc. v. British Columbia (Lieutenant Governor in Council), 2025 BCCA 62. A challenge to a similar British Columbia Order in Council was dismissed. That case concerned proposed cryptocurrency mining data centers in contrast to this case which concerns a built and operating cryptocurrency mining data centre, but the result is the same.

Sara Blake is the author of Administrative Law in Canada, 7th edition, LexisNexis Canada. Her practice is restricted to clients who exercise statutory and regulatory powers.

The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s firm, its clients, Law360 Canada, LexisNexis Canada or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.

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