Nebraska legislators have just approved the 526 legislative bill (LB526), and although it is not explicitly anti -bitcoin, its effects can be anything but neutral. With a unanimous vote of 49-0, the legislature sent the bill to the desk of Governor Jim Pillen, where it is expected to be signed. Supporters call it a common sense infrastructure bill. Bitcoin miners call it a slow chamber exodus in creation.
On paper, LB526 these are large energy users. But in practice, individualize Bitcoin mining facilities with a megavatio (MW) or greater loads and layers in operational limitations that resemble punishment than politics.
Costs of change, public shame and reduction
In the heart of LB526 there is a mandate: miners must assume the costs of any infrastructure update necessary to support their demand. Profits are empowered to demand direct payments or credit letters after carrying out a “load study”. And although the law pays the lips service to “justice” and non -discrimination, it is clear who is the objective. Bitcoin miners are the only industry named.
In addition, mining operators must notify public services in advance, send their interconnection requirements and, critically, accept an interruptible service. That means that when the grid is squeezed, it is the miners who darken first. Voluntary demand response, the distinctive seal of the friendly posture for the Bitcoin Mining network? Replaced by a mandatory reduction and discretion of public services.
And the kicker: public dissemination of energy consumption. Public services must publish the annual energy use for each mining operation. There is no such requirement for other heavy data sectors, not for cloud computing, not for AI groups, not for Amazon data centers. Only bitcoin. It is not just surveillance, it is signaling.
The tax that was not and the costs that remain
For their credit, the Legislature eliminated a previous provision that would have added a tax of 2.5 ¢/kWh on mining. This punitive tax would have added 50% in typical industrial rates. That tax would have been an open statement of hostility. Eliminating it was necessary. But not enough.
Because what remains in LB526 is a less visible deterrence element, but no less powerful: uncertainty. The miners already operate in thin margins of Razor and seek jurisdictions with predictable energy costs and clear rules. Instead, Nebraska offers infrastructure tolls, discretionary reduction and regulatory spotlights.
The market responds: miners’ warning shots
Industry leaders were not silent. Marathon Digital Holdings, one of the mining firms that are quoted on the largest stock market, testified that it had invested almost $ 200 million in Nebraska and paid more than $ 6.5 million in taxes, and warned that if LB526 was approved, a greater expansion would probably be discarded.
His message was clear: Nebraska had been a pro-mining jurisdiction. But LB526 sends a sign that miners are not welcome, or at best, they are second -class citizens in the energy economy. As an executive said, “if the same rules do not apply to other energy intensive industries, it is not about infrastructure, it is discrimination.”
Others warned that mandatory reduction replaces cooperative grid services with coercion. Bitcoin miners can and do so, offer a real -time charge detachment that stabilizes the networks during the maximum demand. But that value proposal only works when there is a market signal. LB526 makes it a responsibility.
Politics, power and public services
Senator Mike Jacobson, the sponsor of the bill, insisted that LB526 is agnostic to Bitcoin. “It’s about electricity use” Said. But that is difficult to square with an invoice that surgically addresses a user class.
Jacobson pointed to Kearney, where half of the power of the city goes to a single mining installation. But instead of seeing that, as an opportunity, an dispatchable industrial client willing to climb based on the needs of the network, the legislature opted for risk aversion and central planning.
And in the public power model of Nebraska, that matters. With each public property utility, the regulatory position of the State is not an advisor, it is existential. There is no retail competition. If Nebraska’s electrical authorities begin to treat Bitcoin miners as unreliable booksellers instead of arranged partners, miners have no resource. Only the exit.
For now, LB526 expects only the governor’s signature. Since LB526 was introduced into the Information from the governorIt is likely to be signed. Once promulgated, it will enter into force on October 1, 2025. Until then, they have to decide: adapt, relocate or fold.
States such as Texas, Wyoming and North Dakota have taken the opposite direction, offering fiscal clarity, network integration and legal protection. Nebraska, once on that list, can be found by dropping the radar.
Bitcoin Mining does not need brochures. But it needs equal conditions. LB526 imposes costs, limits flexibility and transmits suspicion. If the objective was to balance infrastructure innovation, the execution leaves much to be desired.
Because when an industry is loaded, while others are exempt, when voluntary associations are replaced by mandates, and when the operational data is made public without clear reason, it is not difficult to see why the miners see LB526 not as regulation, but as retaliation.
This is an guest publication of Colin Crossman. The opinions expressed are completely yours and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC, Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
