NY Dems propose bill to tax PoW-based electricity consumption

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New York Democrat legislators introduced a bill on October 17 that would tax proof-of-work digital asset miners based on their electricity consumption.

The bill, dubbed Assembly Bill A9138, was introduced by Democratic Assembly member Anna Kelles.

It effectively imposes a tax on the annual electricity consumption by digital asset miners in pursuit of proof-of-work mining. It sets out a schedule of taxes based on kilowatt hours (the energy equivalent to one kilowatt of power being used for one hour):

• 0-2.25 million kilowatt hours/year: 0 cents per kilowatt hour
• 2.25-5 million kilowatt hours/year: 2 cents per kilowatt hour
• 5-10 million kilowatt hours/year: 3 cents per kilowatt hour
• 10-20 million kilowatt hours/year: 4 cents per kilowatt hour
• 20+ million kilowatt hours/year: 5 cents per kilowatt hour

It specifies that taxpayers in a ‘controlled group’ are treated as a single entity to determine annual consumption. Each member of the controlled group would be ‘jointly and severally liable’ for the bill, meaning each member can be held liable for the full amount.

The definition for ‘digital asset mining using proof-of-work authentication methods’ is set out in the bill:

“The operation of specialized computer hardware or devices, including but not limited to application specific-integrated circuits (ASICs) or graphics processing units (GPUs) for the purpose of validation or authentication of transactions, recording data, or securing consensus on a distributed ledger or blockchain network through the repeated performance of computer algorithms.”

The bill is currently in the Assembly Committee stage, where it will be examined before being presented to the Assembly for approval. If passed, the tax would be effective on January 1, 2027.

It’s one of several prongs used by lawmakers to try to tax digital asset mining activities. A9138 is something of a twin to another proposal introduced by Assemblymember Kelles earlier in October alongside Senator Liz Krueger. That proposal— known as S8518—would require digital asset miners to pay levies to New York’s Energy Affordability Program depending on how much energy they consume.

The Energy Affordability Program provides financial assistance to households struggling to pay energy bills. It is intended to make sure they pay no more than 6% of their yearly household income on energy.

S8518 is currently being examined in the Senate.

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