Former Electricity Regulator Sami Turgeman Joins Mega Or to Navigate Server Farm Licensing Challenges

Mega Or, a logistics and server farm company owned by Tzachi Nahmias, recently hired retired Major General Sami Turgeman as a consultant. Turgeman, who served as CEO of Nega, the national electricity management company, from 2018 to 2025, is assisting Mega Or during a critical period as the company seeks approvals from the Electricity Authority to expand its server farms. This need became urgent after the Electricity Authority halted license distribution for 140 days starting in July to develop a new approval system, following a period of liberal license grants, including nearly half to Mega Or itself.

The temporary freeze has created significant market uncertainty, causing potential customers to reconsider entering Israel and contributing to an approximately 18% drop in Mega Or's stock price. Mega Or acknowledged in its Q2 financial report that it cannot yet assess the full impact of the Electricity Authority's decision on projects under construction or planning without binding hosting agreements. However, it expects that signed agreements with major cloud companies like Crossuo or Google will likely remain unaffected.

One of Mega Or's major deals, involving a 1-gigawatt connection request for the former Alliance factory site in Hadera, purchased for about one billion shekels, faces uncertainty. The current connection supports only 40 megawatts, and the coming months will be decisive in how the Electricity Authority allocates licenses. Criteria under consideration include financial strength, ability to acquire GPUs, and relationships with clients such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and emerging cloud firms like Nebius and Crossuo.

Mega Or reported nearly full occupancy and a 25% increase in net operating income to 117 million shekels in Q2 but saw net profit decline from 426 million to 252 million shekels year-over-year. Its net financial debt surged to 5.2 billion shekels from 1.3 billion at the end of last year, with a working capital deficit increasing from 123 million to 670 million shekels. Turgeman's expertise is expected to help Mega Or navigate the uncertain regulatory environment ahead.