Iranian miners face rising electricity prices

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2 minutes.

The National Iranian Gas Company of the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum Industry informed miners about the increase in natural gas tariffs.

The increase is retroactive andapplies for the entire financial year, which began in March 2022. This means that bills for the past six months will be adjusted to reflect the new rates.

As a result of the decision taken by the Ministry,a cubic meter of fuel will now cost 53,368 rials (about $1.25), which is almost double the 29,440 rials ($0.7) that miners previously paid. In addition, cryptocurrency miners are required to pay a value added tax (VAT) of 9%.

Chairman of the Iranian Blockchain AssociationAbbas Ashtiani called the officials’ decision a violation of the agreement between mining companies and energy suppliers. He is convinced that the increase should not have affected gas consumption in the first half of the financial year.

The authorities' decision will hit a third of miningcompanies in the country that use electricity generated from natural gas. As a result, many licensed businesses will suffer large losses. The local crypto community believes that after disruptions to the Internet and legal procedures, the actions of officials will force even more mining companies to go underground.

Iranian authorities have been accusingminers are experiencing a shortage of electricity in the country. Over the past two years, companies have been forced to stop cryptocurrency mining several times. Currently, licensed legal entities pay for electricity at export prices, and the price of gas is set at about 70% of the average export price.

Recently, Iranian authorities resumed issuing licenses to mining companies, in accordance with the new regulatory framework.