3 instruments on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.
Cryptocurrency Power Regulation, no new cryptocurrency mining connections
In force
B.C. Reg. 163/2024
Applies to government
The regulation was made by Order in Council 373/2024 and deposited on June 28, 2024. It was made under section 21.1 of the Utilities Commission Act. It was last amended on October 20, 2025 by British Columbia Regulation 164/2025. The authority is the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, which is for all its purposes an agent of the government.
The authority must not supply service to a person for the purpose of operating a new low-voltage cryptocurrency project, including by accepting a design deposit in relation to one. The authority must also not supply service to a person for the purpose of operating a new high-voltage cryptocurrency project, including by entering into a system impact study agreement in relation to one or a facilities study agreement in relation to a proposed project.
A new high-voltage cryptocurrency project is a project to mine cryptocurrency that would receive from the authority an electricity supply of 60 kV or higher and in relation to which the authority has not entered into a facilities study agreement before December 28, 2022. The Province states that a temporary suspension of new cryptocurrency mining connections to BC Hydro's grid was in effect from December 2022.
The Province also states that in fall 2025 the Cryptocurrency Power Regulation permanently relieved BC Hydro of its obligation to serve certain new cryptocurrency operations.
Source: Full text of law
Data Centre Facility and Hydrogen Production Facility Power Supply Regulation, new capacity limits and competitive process
In force
B.C. Reg. 8/2026
Applies to government
The regulation was made by Order in Council 25/2026 and deposited on January 30, 2026. It was made under section 21.1 (2) to (4) of the Utilities Commission Act. In the regulation the reference date is February 1, 2026.
An A.I. data centre is a data centre, other than a cryptocurrency mining project, in which 10 percent or more of the electricity supplied to it is or will be used for computational tasks related to artificial intelligence, processing and storing data related to those tasks, or powering equipment and other infrastructure used for those purposes. A conventional data centre is a data centre, other than an A.I. data centre, the primary purpose of which is storage or processing of electronic data.
The authority is the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, which is for all its purposes an agent of the government. The authority must not supply service to a person for the purpose of operating a new high-voltage (non-queue) project, a new low-voltage (no deposit) project or a proposed high-voltage (SISA) project.
The authority must also not supply 10 MW or more of incremental capacity to a transmission non-queue customer, a distribution non-queue customer or a transmission in-queue customer, if the incremental capacity is to be used at an existing facility. The authority may supply service or incremental capacity to a person caught by those prohibitions if the person meets the minimum requirements and is successful in the competitive process.
During the two-year period commencing on the reference date, the authority must not make available for conventional data centre purposes more than a total of 100 MW of new electricity capacity. During that period the authority must not make available for A.I. data centre purposes more than the aggregated total of 300 MW of new electricity capacity and any conventional data centre capacity that has not been made available.
For the one-year period commencing on the second anniversary of the reference date, the limit for conventional data centre purposes is 50 MW of new electricity capacity. For that one-year period the limit for A.I. data centre purposes is 150 MW of new electricity capacity plus any such capacity not made available for conventional data centre purposes.
The authority must establish and conduct a competitive process to select which persons are eligible to receive new electricity capacity for A.I. data centre purposes and conventional data centre purposes. A request for service in that process must not be for more than 145 MW of capacity.
A person's eligibility to participate in the competitive process requires, among other minimum requirements, that the person demonstrate the willingness and ability to curtail at least the amount of capacity that the authority asks it to curtail from time to time.
For a data centre, the authority's assessment of a project must include consideration of the jurisdiction in which the person who proposes to operate it was incorporated and the manner in which data is to be safeguarded against disclosure outside of Canada. The authority need not establish and conduct the process if it determines that there is insufficient demand for new electricity capacity to justify it or insufficient electricity capacity in its system to meet the demand. The regulation also limits new electricity capacity for hydrogen-for-export facilities.
Source: Full text of law
Utilities Commission Act, electricity service for cryptocurrency mining, data and hydrogen purposes
In force
R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 473, s. 21.1
Effective 2025-11-27 · Applies to both
Section 21.1 lets the Lieutenant Governor in Council make regulations respecting the provision by a public utility of electricity service to mine cryptocurrency, to store or process electronic data, including electronic data used for artificial intelligence, or to produce hydrogen for use outside Canada. The Energy Statutes Amendment Act, 2025 repealed the earlier section 21.1 and substituted the current text. That Act received Royal Assent on November 27, 2025.
It came into force on the date of Royal Assent. The regulations may prohibit a public utility, for a specified period or indefinitely, from supplying electricity service for a listed purpose. The regulations may also require a public utility to conduct a competitive process to select which persons are eligible to receive electricity service for a listed purpose.
A public utility or the commission, as applicable, must comply with a regulation made under section 21.1 despite any other provision of the Act except section 3, a regulation under the Act other than a direction under section 3, and any previous decision of the commission. A person convicted of an offence under section 106 of the Act is liable to a penalty not greater than $1,000,000.
Source: Full text of law