A Russian church was ordered by the country’s courts to pay higher electricity fees due to running an unsanctioned cryptocurrency mining operation on its premises. The ruling, although isolated in its nature, could have implications for private citizens looking to mine crypto in their own homes.

The court case came about after the regional electricity provider, Irkutskenegro, noticed that there was a significant spike in electricity use coming from the church, which led to an investigation.

The utility company found that the religious organization, called “Grace,” was using the electricity to mine cryptocurrency, but was still collecting government subsidies to pay for the electricity fees.

Current legislation in Russia requires that companies, organizations, and individuals looking to mine cryptocurrency must pay the full, unsubsidized, rates for electricity, although many individuals ignore these laws in an effort to increase their profitability.

Although individual miners who are mining relatively small amounts of cryptocurrency can likely fly under the radar, larger operations have a more difficult time avoiding attention from the power company.

In the case of the aforementioned church, the utility provider explained to the courts that the church was consuming so much electricity that it was actually endangering the neighboring area, putting the surrounding area at risk of increased power shortages and blackouts.

The church initially denied the accusation that they were mining cryptocurrency but altered their denial after inspectors found a significant amount of mining equipment in a server room on the church’s second floor.

After being taken to court by the utility provider, the church claimed that they were actually using the mining equipment as a means of heating the premises, and further claiming that forcing them to pay higher electricity fees would be religious discrimination.

The court, unsurprisingly, rejected this claim, noting that the majority of the mining occurred during a period of warm weather in the summer months, and ordered them to pay approximately $15,000 USD.

The ruling could have future implications for individual miners who use subsidized electricity to mine at their homes, as they now may be subjected to inspections from utility companies, and forced to pay unsubsidized rates, therefore significantly decreasing their profitability.