I meant that literally. Some people actually believe that power utilities will kick miners off this coming winter to have spare power for everyone else!
This talking point is also reusable at the opposite time of the year - they say that utilities will kick miners off during the summer heat waves so that there's more power for ACs.
Not kick them out but pay them in order to shut the gear down to drop consumption.
And it's a fact, it just happened in Texas, and if you don't believe rumors, you might believe financial statements from Riot:
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/08/03/2491455/0/en/Riot-Blockchain-Announces-July-2022-Production-and-Operations-Updates.html“As energy demand in ERCOT reached all-time highs this past month, the Company voluntarily curtailed its energy consumption in order to ensure that more power would be available in Texas. Riot curtailed a total of 11,717 megawatt hours in July, enough to power 13,121 average homes for one month. Curtailing the Company’s power consumption reduced BTC production by an estimated 21% in July, but also significantly reduced Riot’s power costs for the month. By providing power back into the ERCOT grid during periods of peak demand, the Company estimates that power credits and other benefits from curtailment activities totaled an estimated $9.5 million, significantly outweighing the reduction in BTC mined.
Of course, it's voluntary but it's still about the money!
If miners would be faced with 40cents per kWh like in Europe they would be shutting also voluntary but a different type.
Sure, mining will be unprofitable in places like Germany, but the high electricity prices argue that miners have moved their operations to more favorable places.
The truth is, all miners will go to places with cheap electricity. Cheap electricity means the grids can sustain the miners and the rest of the population without overloading, making the much-trumpeted "economic collapse" non-existent.
And keep following the rules of the free market, what happens when the excess free energy there is no longer enough? The truth is that the current situation can hold only x amount of miners, that's it, there is no way for an infinite number, somewhere there is a stop and the cheap energy stops becoming cheap.