Time to pull the plug on Government’s data centre free-for-all
Time to pull the plug on Government’s data centre free-for-all - The Labour Party
- Data centres cannot get special treatment while households pay the price
Labour climate spokesperson Ciarán Ahern TD has reiterated calls for a moratorium on further data centre expansion, after the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) proposed offering large energy users cut-price gas in return for accepting possible disruption to their supply during periods of extreme demand.
Deputy Ahern said:
“Households have spent years dealing with eye-watering energy bills, yet we now have the extraordinary prospect of some of the wealthiest corporations in the world getting access to cheaper gas. People struggling to pay their energy bills will rightly ask why data centres are in line for a discount while ordinary customers continue to pay through the nose.
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have continued to facilitate the rapid expansion of data centres despite repeated warnings about the enormous pressure they are placing on our energy system, water system, household bills and climate targets. Now the CRU is warning that this continued expansion will make it harder to source enough gas during an extreme cold spell, while proposing a discounted tariff for the very large energy users contributing to that pressure.
“Of course we need measures to protect the security of supply in an emergency. But Government has allowed us to reach a point where our energy system is increasingly being reshaped around the extraordinary demands of data centres.
“Labour has consistently called for a moratorium on new data centres until sufficient renewable energy comes online and we have a clear, independent assessment of their impact on our electricity system, energy prices, water supply and climate targets. Data centres already consume almost a quarter of Ireland’s electricity. That is projected to rise above 30% by 2030 and could reach 55% before long on the current trajectory. Without significant government intervention we are likely to reach a point where these large corporate users consume more electricity than every household, school, hospital, small business, farm and factory in the country combined.
“In two weeks time, my first Bill “Electricity Regulation (Climate Action and connection to Distribution and Transmission Systems) Bill 2025” will come before the Dáil at Second Stage. It would give the CRU powers to require data centres to provide 100% of their own renewable energy immediately if they are to be built here, so that they’re net contributors of clean energy to our grid rather than pushing up prices for everyone else through their extraordinary gas demands. The government’s current policy allows data centres to use whatever energy they want for the next 6 years. This free-for-all is going to cause chaos on our electricity grid, and will massively increase our fossil fuel emissions at a time we’re already miles off hitting our legally binding climate targets.
“There is a fundamental unfairness here. Government policy is facilitating ever-greater energy demand from data centres. Households and businesses are facing the consequences through higher electricity costs, and now the biggest energy users could be offered cheaper gas.
“Instead of finding new ways to accommodate ever-increasing demand, Government should call a halt to further expansion, assess what this industry is costing our energy system and make those driving up costs pay their fair share.
“Households should not be left paying more while some of the wealthiest corporations in the world get special treatment. It is time to pull the plug on this free-for-all.”