Several actors in the industry fear that blockchain technology will be put on hold in Norway as a result of new move!

Electricity TAX - While this may be great news for ECO-Friendly STEEM - There has been disturbance in the data center industry that the government parties and KrF this week announced that there will be a full electricity fee for data centers that extract crypto currencies.

Several actors in the industry fear that block technology will be put on hold in Norway as a result of the move.

The goals of the budget partners were likely to prevent public subsidization of the recovery of crypto currencies such as bitcoin, which has been criticized for being speculative and wasted. The Center Party has called crypto currency for "casino economy".

the government's grip has led the Norwegian company Troll Housing to lose a billion contract with a major foreign player for a data center in Fræna, according to investor Haakon Bryhni.

• Our data center should be operational December 15, and today we received the cancellation. This is a billion contract we have spent two years negotiating. This is absolutely hopeless, says Bryhni

The experienced researcher and investor have been involved in launching a number of companies in the computer industry, such as Trans Packet, Media Network Services and Elliptic Labs, and he believes that block-technology technology players will stay away from Norway after the tax evasion.

"This decision is not only raging all possible uses of blockade, but the entire data center industry in Norway," he said.

The Tax Directorate confirms that Green Mountain has correctly understood the proposal in the investigation.

"It is true that the proposed regulations will lead to data centers that exploit the cryptographic currency will have to pay full electricity charges for the entire data center business," said Toril Hagen, Head of Division in the Legal Department of the Tax Directorate, to E24.

The entire business risks tax
The company Green Mountain, which is currently expanding its data centers at Rjukan and Rennesøy , says that it has now cooperated with several players in block technology.

The reason is the risk of having to pay full electricity tax for the entire business, after the Norwegian Tax Directorate recently investigated the matter.

"The signals we have received are that if I have one customer who uses the bitcoin equipment, you will have to pay full electricity tax for all customers," says Tor Kristian Gyland, CEO of Green Mountain.

• Had to thank no
  Earlier this month, the Ministry of Finance announced that the Directorate of Taxes has investigated the case and found that it is possible to distinguish between data centers that run the crypto currency and those who do not, and introduce a full fee for crypto centers.

"When this letter came from the Directorate of Taxes one and a half weeks ago, I had to call two customers we had negotiated for a long time saying" Sorry, the risk is too big for us to work with you. So we had to thank no cooperation, to be on the safe side, says Gyland.

From 2017, data centers were defined as power-intensive industries, so that they did not have to pay full electricity tax of 16.58 øre per kilowatthour, but instead pay 0.48 øre kilowatthour. This fee is similar to the rest of the power-intensive industry in Norway.

Can lose blockbacks
Green Mountain has so far not moved into the crypto industry because the company has not seen sufficient predictability in investments related to the recovery of crypto currencies.

But Gyland feared that the government's tax burden could also jeopardize other industry's investments in block technology, including those who have nothing to do with bitcoin or crypto-currency.

"I have warned against introducing full electricity tax to crypto operators because the efforts to exploit block technology for other purposes are in the starting pit," said Gyland.

"The authorities have said now, that Norway is not going to take part in the developments that come within blockade," he said.

• Parked Norway's opportunity
  Green Mountain has for a long time been in dialogue with a few players who have come a long way in using blockbidding in other industries, he says.

"But they say that this is still a new technology and if it takes one, two or five years before it is fully used, they will meanwhile willingly use available capacity to extract bitcoin," said Gyland.

Green Mountain can not help, because then the entire business will get full electricity fee and costs will rise.

"The government has done with this change is that they have parked Norway's opportunity to take part in the development of new technology," said Gyland.

He says it has been important for Green Mountain to be out of business, and big companies like Equinor and Maersk are working to use blockbidders, but now the company can not take the opportunity.

"To create uncertainty about the framework conditions, that's a bad idea," said Gyland.

• Standed alone in the debate
  Stortingsrepresentant Henrik Asheim (H) says he wants to include the input from the organizations ICT Norway and Abelia, which says that the sudden changes in the framework conditions can affect the entire industry, and not just actors who extract bitcoin.

"It's a signal we must bring with us, if this is to be investigated before or after it is adopted, we'll look at it. I will not deny that the introduction date can be moved, if there are things that speak for it, says Asheim to E24.

Venstres Abid Raja has previously agreed to introduce full electricity tax on data centers, but has not responded to E24's inquiries. KrF has refused to comment on the matter.

Finance Minister Siv Jensen (Frp) has previously expressed skepticism about introducing full electricity tax at cryptic centers, and the Supreme Court also advised, at the outset, according to Asheim.

"It's no secret that Right was primarily not for this, and I basically went out to this grip," he says.

"But I felt that I was quite alone in this debate when it rolled in summer and autumn, so it's a little strange that the reactions did not come when the proposals were presented to the Storting earlier this year," he adds.

Fears terrorist financing
"I do not fully believe that you have known what you have done. It seems that the budget partners have had a desire to tackle bitcoin mining in isolation, but did not understand what this change has to say for the data center industry as a whole, "says Abelia's head of digitalization and technology Kjetil Thorvik Brun

Asheim still stands behind the budget agreement, which was signed on Tuesday.

"I'm totally in favor of the coverage we've made in the budget. We do not prohibit recovering cryptovaluta and bitcoin, we just say that this business may not need subsidies, "says Asheim.

"It seems that a lot of data centers in Norway are used to extract cryptographic data. If that is the case, I do not think there are so many in the population who are addicted to subsidizing this. This is after all technology that can also be used for money laundering and terrorist financing, he says.

"The grip creates uncertainty about the framework conditions in the industry," says Abelia?

"I understand that, especially when a political decision comes like that. So in all budgets, when changing framework conditions, it affects different industries. But this has been a debate for half a year, and the proposal has been promoted by the whole opposition and the Left, which is a government party, he says.

Also parts of the environmental movement and several opposition parties have expressed skepticism about subsidies of what they imply are speculative activities. Among the critics are the Labor Party and the Center Party and SV.

Source: https://e24.no/energi/stroem/dropper-blokkjede-kunder-etter-avgiftsgrep-maatte-takke-nei/24500231