Government inertia intolerable as data centres consume nearly a quarter of Irish energy
Government inertia intolerable as data centres consume nearly a quarter of Irish energy - The Labour Party
Labour Spokesperson for Climate and Energy Ciarán Ahern TD has called on the Government to put the brakes on further data centre expansion as new figures from the CSO show that they accounted for 23% of energy consumed in Ireland last year.
This represents a 10% growth in just one year and an almost 500% increase over the last decade.
Responding to the CSO figures, Deputy Ahern reiterated Labour’s call for a moratorium on new data centre construction and a levy on their energy consumption to fund supports for struggling households.
Deputy Ahern said:
“Figures released by the CSO today illustrate what we in Labour have been saying all along: the Government is wilfully losing control of data centre energy consumption. They can no longer ignore this issue. By the end of this decade data centres will account for almost a third of Ireland’s energy demand and on current projections it won’t be long before they take up half of our energy. The Government has a choice to make: do they want our energy system to serve households and local businesses or do they want it to serve the tech oligarchs and faceless multinationals?
“We can’t lose sight of the fact that half a million household energy accounts are in arrears on their bills at present and recent research shows that data centres are imposing additional costs. Around €715 million was added to household bills between 2015 and 2023 directly as a result of data centre energy demand and it’s anticipated that they will add a further €1.5 billion to bills over the next decade. Meanwhile, data centres and other large energy users enjoy a discount on the price they pay for their electricity. Hard-pressed families and households should not be subsidising the insatiable energy demands of these corporate gas guzzlers.
“We’re quickly approaching a point where data centres consumer more energy than every household, every school, every hospital, every small business, every farm and every factory in the country combined. We’re already in a situation where any renewable energy that’s being produced in Ireland is being cannibalised by data centres. This means that it isn’t going to sectors that we urgently need to decarbonise like transport, industry and home heating, nor is it helping to bring down bills for struggling households.
“Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents have resisted every opportunity to put the brakes on these runaway energy vampires. Last month, they voted down Labour’s proposals to introduce a moratorium on new data centre construction until we can be sure that we have the capacity to facilitate them without impacting on household bills or our climate targets, and to introduce a levy on their energy use so that they’re paying their fair share. We recognise that data centres are important for our digital infrastructure and industrial strategy, but we have to be honest about and mindful of the costs. Instead of taking Labour’s sensible approach on board, the Government have buried their head in the sand and will continue to allow data centres to soak up more and more of our energy, adding hundreds to household bills in the process.
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have a simple question to answer: how much is enough? We’re already at a point where data centre energy demand accounts for more than every urban household in the country combined. Our energy system is becoming increasingly organised around the demands of a small number of large corporate users and their interests. Government inertia can no longer be tolerated. We need to see a moratorium on new data centre connections, a levy to recover some of the costs they’re already imposing on households and small businesses, and targeted supports for those who are struggling to keep up with exorbitant energy bills.”