How Cholla Energy Used LōD to Cut Costs and Redefine Mining Resilience in ERCOT

Cholla Energy is a Texas-based Bitcoin mining operator pioneering grid-integrated mining strategies. Located in the heart of West Texas (where renewable generation meets extreme volatility) Cholla sits at the intersection of opportunity and uncertainty.  In a region where energy prices can swing from negative to triple digits within minutes, Cholla sought a smarter way to manage volatility, protect uptime, and turn energy into a profit lever rather than a liability.

“The LōD team has been instrumental to Cholla’s success in West Texas.
Together, we’re reshaping the narrative on flexible loads with our ‘Texas Hedge’ strategy.
LōD enables us to capitalize on negative pricing events, maintain below-market electricity costs, and be a true partner to the ERCOT grid.”

— Brad Cuddy, CEO, Cholla Energy

Before partnering with LōD, Cholla was constrained by traditional energy management systems that lacked real-time control and predictive intelligence.

They faced three major challenges:

• Volatility risk: Extreme price fluctuations in ERCOT often turned profitable hours into sudden losses.
• Limited visibility: Legacy dashboards could show data, but not act on it.
• Compliance pressure: Managing grid signals and 4CP events required manual oversight, creating inefficiencies and downtime.

In short; they were operating in the dark.

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They could see energy events happening but couldn’t act on them fast enough to benefit.

LōD introduced a new operating philosophy: The Texas Hedge Strategy , treating energy volatility not as a threat, but as a competitive edge.

The solution combined real-time orchestration with automated market participation, including:

• Miner API integration: Direct control of compute load and energy use.
• Power Distribution Unit (PDU) automation: Granular power management at the device level.
• PLC & Variable Fan Drive (VFD) controls: Fine-tuned power modulation for cooling and support systems.
• 8-Layer Optimization Algorithm: A proprietary model balancing energy pricing, grid conditions, mining economics, and compliance in real time.

This system allowed Cholla to dynamically adjust operations every minute; automatically curtailing, ramping, or resuming as ERCOT conditions changed.

How LōD Did It

Deployment began with site-level integration of LōD RAILS automation, enabling synchronized control of ASICs, PDUs, and HVAC infrastructure.

Within weeks, Cholla achieved:

• Sub-minute response times to price and grid events.
• Predictive prevention for downtime and overloads.
• Full visibility from grid node to machine level.

By layering LōD over their existing setup, Cholla gained control without disruption — and could finally quantify every decision’s cost and impact in real time.

The numbers tell the story:

• Delivered Cost of Energy (CoE): consistently below $50/MWh
• 4CP Success: 100% compliance and optimal curtailment across all four peak intervals in 2024
• Market Participation: fully automated day-ahead bidding and price response
• Downtime Reduction: predictive prevention cut unplanned outages to near zero
• New Revenue Stream: qualified as a Non-Spinning Reserve (NCLR) participant

By transforming Bitcoin mining into a flexible, grid-responsive asset, Cholla turned volatility into profit — achieving below-market energy costs while supporting ERCOT grid stability.