- Senator Ted Cruz has introduced legislation to promote flared gas use in Bitcoin mining
- The FLARE Act offers tax incentives for on-site energy generation from stranded natural gas
- The bill aims to cut emissions, support miners, and decentralize the grid
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has introduced the Facilitate Lower Atmospheric Released Emissions (FLARE) Act, a bill designed to encourage Bitcoin miners and other entrepreneurs to harness stranded natural gas for on-site energy generation. The legislation provides permanent tax incentives for converting otherwise wasted gas into electricity. Cruz argues that the bill will lower emissions, boost the grid’s resilience, and strengthen Texas’s role in the crypto economy through a technology that has already been attempted elsewhere in the U.S.
A Boost for Bitcoin Mining and Energy Innovation
Senator Cruz announced the FLARE act on 1 April, but this was no April Fool. Cruz proposes making permanent the 100% bonus depreciation for equipment used to convert flared or stranded natural gas into power, gas that is otherwise wasted. This incentive is expected to benefit industries like Bitcoin mining, which have increasingly turned to off-grid energy sources to improve sustainability and reduce reliance on traditional power infrastructure:
My legislation, the FLARE Act, incentivizes entrepreneurs and crypto miners to utilize natural gas that would otherwise be stranded. https://t.co/fvb1nog3ix pic.twitter.com/8uCWtyOY29
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) April 1, 2025
Bitcoin miners have already begun tapping flared gas in oil-rich regions of Texas and North Dakota. In some cases, mobile mining units are deployed directly to oilfields, using the natural gas that would otherwise be burned off as a byproduct of drilling. The FLARE Act aims to support and expand this trend, formalizing incentives that could make such operations more widespread and commercially viable.
Tapping Wasted Energy
In a press release outlining the FLARE act, Cruz discussed Texas’ role as a “leader in energy and a hub for innovation,” talking up its natural resources:
This bill takes advantage of Texas’s vast energy potential, reinforces our position as the home of the Bitcoin industry, and is good for the environment.
Hailey Miller, Director of Government Relations & Public Policy at the Digital Power Network, added that the bill represents “critical legislation” that would “eliminate unnecessary flaring and venting of natural gas while unlocking new opportunities for energy innovation in the United States.”
In March 2022, Energy giant Exxon revealed that it was experimenting with mining bitcoins through energy from flaring, while in August 2023, U.S. energy company Nodal Power has revealed plans to turn some of the electricity it generated from waste methane to the purpose.
To ensure the benefits stay domestic, the bill includes provisions excluding entities owned or controlled by governments such as China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia from accessing these tax incentives.
