After its first attempt to survey the energy usage of cryptocurrency mining companies was thwarted by litigation, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is now preparing to try again, but this time, it is seeking input from cryptocurrency industry players first, CoinDesk reported. The Energy Information Administration (EIA), the federal agency responsible for energy statistics and analysis within the DOE, held a public webinar on Wednesday to hear public input on how to develop such a survey. In January, the agency sent a mandatory survey to nearly 500 identified commercial cryptocurrency mining companies, requiring them to provide detailed energy usage data or face civil and criminal penalties. The survey has drawn strong opposition from cryptocurrency miners, including Marty Bent, director of Bitcoin mining company Cathedra Bitcoin, who called the mandatory survey "Orwellian" in a blog post and expressed concerns that it could be used to create a "hyper-detailed registry of U.S. mining operations."