Norway’s minority government is under pressure from its parliamentary allies and the opposition to freeze new data centers, Bloomberg reported on 2 November. The Red Party, one of the Labour government’s backers, plans to propose a motion on Tuesday halting all new data center projects, according to reports by broadcaster NRK and newswire NTB cited by Bloomberg.
The push follows a report from Norway’s energy regulator, NVE, published on 29 October. It says data center projects that already hold grid capacity could use about 25 terawatt-hours (TWh) of power a year by 2035, more than eight times what data centers use today. By our arithmetic, 25 TWh is about 1.7 times the roughly 15 TWh power surplus NVE says Norway has in a normal year.
The key insight: Norway’s Red Party plans to propose a motion on Tuesday to halt all new data center projects, Bloomberg reports, after the energy regulator NVE said projects that already hold grid capacity could use about 25 TWh a year by 2035, which by our arithmetic is about 1.7 times Norway’s normal-year power surplus of roughly 15 TWh.
NRK reported on 28 October that the Red Party is putting forward an urgent proposal to stop the establishment of more data centers, to be submitted on Tuesday, and invited every party in parliament to help draft it. Party leader Marie Sneve Martinussen told NRK the aim is a stop order to the government that could win a majority on Tuesday, and that the party believes the Energy Act can be used for the immediate measures it wants.
Norway now has 113 data centers, according to the national communications authority Nkom as cited by NRK, and about as many new ones are planned. Martinussen told NRK that if regulation starts without first closing the queue, it becomes a race to get in fastest.
Data-centre power use today (about 3 TWh a year), Norway’s normal-year power surplus (about 15 TWh) and NVE’s estimate of 2035 use if projects that already hold grid capacity are built (about 25 TWh). Source: NVE, Scenarioer for kraftmarkedet 2026, press release 29 October 2026. NVE says it does not know how many plans will be built.
Who Backs a Pause
The Centre Party switched sides last week. E24, citing NTB and Aftenposten, reported on 28 October that it now wants a temporary stop on new data centers until the summer, while clearer rules and a licensing system are put in place. Existing data centers and projects under construction would continue.
With that switch, the Centre Party joins the Socialist Left, the Greens, the Red Party and the Christian Democrats in backing a temporary stop, E24 reports. The Conservatives, Labour and the Progress Party do not want to stop construction while new rules are drawn up, according to E24. NRK says a majority for a stop would most likely need the Progress Party.
The Centre Party also wants to raise the electricity tax on data centers from 7 รธre to more than 30 รธre per kilowatt-hour in its alternative budget, E24 reports. Its energy spokesperson, Maren Grรธthe, told NTB that half of Norway’s power queue is now data centers, according to E24.
Business Pill · Grid Cost Allocation Explained
An evergreen Business Engineer explainer on how the cost of grid upgrades is split between large new loads and existing customers. It explains the general idea only and does not discuss Norway.
What NVE’s Numbers Show
Data centers use about 3 TWh of power a year today, NVE says, and around half of Norway’s reserved grid capacity is now reserved for data centers. NVE’s director, Kjetil Lund, told Reuters the sector accounts for between 3 and 4 TWh of demand, about 2.5% of the total.
NVE says it does not know how many data center plans will actually be built. In one of its scenarios, with strong demand growth and no new onshore or offshore wind by 2035, Norway’s power balance falls to minus 4 TWh in a normal year. If the power balance is strongly weakened, NVE says, its analysis shows power prices in 2035 up to 35% to 55% higher than its earlier estimates.
A study commissioned by the Ministry of Digitalisation and Public Governance found data centers created about 3.2 billion crowns ($345 million) of direct value in 2025 and employed the equivalent of around 600 full-time positions, Reuters reports.
What the Government Says
Energy minister Terje Aasland told Reuters the government is working on short- and long-term measures. “It is about ensuring the right kind of data centre establishments in Norway, those that are strategically important at a national level,” he said.
Digitalisation minister Torgeir Micaelsen warned against stopping new data centers on NRK’s Politisk kvarter programme, NRK reports. He said demand for AI services runs on hardware that has to sit in data centers, and that Norway needs them for digitalisation, security and preparedness. He also said he would like to work with parliament to find the right balance.
Local stakes are visible in Fyresdal in Telemark, where EdgeConnex is building a six-building data center due to be finished in 2029, NRK reports. An impact study points to at least 300 new jobs there, and 140 MW is reserved for the first phase. The town’s mayor, Erik Skjervagen of Labour, told NRK the Red Party’s proposal was panic.
In Virginia, Axios reported on 2 November that Google is eyeing a 1,000-acre data center campus in Goochland County’s West Creek Business Park, a site that has allowed data centers without new public zoning hearings since 1987. Henrico residents are fighting at least four proposed data centers in Goochland, Axios says, and a community meeting on proposed zoning changes is set for 10 November.
As we read NVE’s numbers, the issue is the queue more than today’s load: data centers use about 3 TWh a year now, NVE says, but around half of Norway’s reserved grid capacity is already reserved for them.
As we read the party positions, the proposals differ on scope: E24 reports the Centre Party wants a stop until the summer that lets existing data centers and projects under construction continue, while the Red Party’s motion, as Bloomberg describes it, would halt all new data center projects.
Energy minister Terje Aasland, to Reuters
“It is about ensuring the right kind of data centre establishments in Norway, those that are strategically important at a national level”
Three Implications
FOR DATA CENTER DEVELOPERS E24 reports the Centre Party would also raise the electricity tax on data centers from 7 øre to more than 30 øre per kilowatt-hour in its alternative budget.
FOR NORWAY’S POWER BALANCE NVE says that in one scenario, with strong demand growth and no new wind power by 2035, Norway’s balance falls to minus 4 TWh in a normal year; its analysis shows prices in 2035 up to 35% to 55% higher than its earlier estimates if the balance is strongly weakened.
FOR HOST TOWNS NRK reports an impact study points to at least 300 new jobs at EdgeConnex’s data center in Fyresdal, where 140 MW is reserved for the first phase.
The framework reads: “The structural bottleneck isn’t computing, it’s electrons.”
As we read it, Norway’s debate is that bottleneck showing up in a parliament: NVE’s figures put grid-backed data center plans above the country’s normal-year surplus. The framework is the owner’s argument and does not discuss Norway.
We have not seen the text of the Red Party’s motion; its content is as described by NRK, NTB and Bloomberg. It is not established whether the motion has a majority, which Reuters said was not immediately clear on 29 October. NVE’s 25 TWh is an estimate for 2035 based on grid capacity already allocated, not a forecast of what will be built. The translations from Norwegian are ours.
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Norway’s parliament is due to consider a Red Party motion on Tuesday to halt new data center projects, Bloomberg reports, and by our count of E24’s list five parties now back a temporary stop.
NVE says projects that already hold grid capacity could use about 25 TWh a year by 2035. By our arithmetic, that is about 1.7 times Norway’s normal-year power surplus of roughly 15 TWh.
A note on sourcing. The motion is as reported by Bloomberg, citing NRK and NTB, and by NRK; party positions are as reported by E24 and NRK. Power figures come from NVE’s 29 October press release and Reuters. Translations from Norwegian, the 1.7x ratio and the count of parties are ours. Virginia details are from Axios and Goochland County.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
