Data centres have drained €715 million from the Irish economy, and could drain a further €1.6 billion euros from households over the next decade, new report warns

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Friends of the Earth Ireland and Beyond Fossil Fuels call for limits to data centre industry as report shows how the industry has driven up wholesale prices, impacting poorest households the most.

The rapid expansion of data centres has drained a staggering €715 million from the Irish economy between 2015 and 2023, adding the equivalent of an average €360 to household electricity bills, according to a new report. During the last energy crisis, the poorest households paid an extra €209 between 2021-2023.

The report warns that unless Government policy changes, the cost on households could intensify dramatically between now and 2034, facing an additional €1.43 billion in electricity costs linked to data centre growth, equivalent to between €295 and €644 extra per household. 

The report, The Cost of Data Centres: Modelling the Household Electricity Costs of Ireland’s Data Centre Sector, was commissioned by Friends of the Earth Ireland and Beyond Fossil Fuels and warns that in the event of another global energy shock caused by events such as the Ukraine war and the Iran crisis, additional costs could soar to as much as €1.6 billion.

Authored by postdoctoral researcher Dr Seán Fearon, the report says serious questions must be raised about the Government’s current energy and industrial policy, particularly as Ireland continues to grapple with some of the highest electricity prices in Europe, growing energy insecurity and legally binding climate targets.

The report finds that Ireland now hosts one of the most data centre-intensive electricity systems in the world. It says the explosive growth of data centres during the late 2010s and early 2020s has significantly increased Ireland’s dependence on fossil gas generation, exposing households and businesses to volatile international energy prices.

The report also finds that:

  • On a per capita basis, data centres in Ireland consume a larger share of national electricity demand than in any other reported country, currently accounting for more than 22% of the State’s electricity use.
  • During the height of the 2022 energy crisis, the “data centre price effect” accounted for the equivalent of approximately 8.5% of the average household electricity bill.
  • The rapid and largely unchecked expansion of the data centre sector before the effective moratorium introduced in late 2021 has deepened Ireland’s economic dependence on major US tech corporations. 

Launching the report today, Rosi Leonard, Data Centres Campaign Lead with Friends of the Earth Ireland, said:

Households in Ireland have effectively been paying a hidden data centre tax on their electricity bills. At least €715 million has already been drained from people’s pockets, and another €1.6 billion could be lost over the next decade if current policies continue.
This is money families could otherwise have spent on food, childcare, housing, retrofitting or local businesses. Instead, households are subsidising an energy-intensive industry dominated by some of the wealthiest tech corporations in the world.

She added:

Data centres are not only driving up wholesale electricity prices -  they are also fuelling Ireland’s dependence on fossil gas and undermining access to clean energy for everyone else. The scale of the data centre sector’s grip on Ireland’s energy system is not inevitable. It is the result of political decisions. The Government must now introduce a moratorium on new data centres, place firm limits on the expansion of existing facilities, and prioritise the energy security and affordability needs of ordinary people over the interests of Big Tech.

The research comes as the European Commission looks to triple data centre capacity in the next five to seven years, in a market so far largely dominated by US Big Tech companies. In early 2026, the Trump administration made a “deal” with US Big Tech to have those companies bear the increased energy costs faced by citizens living near data centres. However the deal has not worked, as tech companies remain focused on profits, unwilling to take responsibility for their impacts on energy prices. Europeans are concerned about who pays for data centres, and do not want to see data centres prioritised in an energy shortage. Yet the Commission’s approach seems to move in the opposite direction, and double down on putting data centres before people. 

Jill McArdle, International Corporate Campaigner, Beyond Fossil Fuels, said:

“The Irish case should be a warning for Europe: letting Big Tech expand data centres unchecked will have massive ripple effects on the economy and European households. Combined with fossil gas, this creates a toxic mix - driving up energy prices for people  already struggling through another energy crisis. 
Yet European decision makers are pressing ahead with plans for rapid data centre expansion, with too few or weak safeguards to prevent deeper reliance on gas and driving up costs. Even Trump, under intense pressure from voters, has acknowledged that Big Tech should pay its own energy bills. Unless data centres are required to be powered by additional renewable energy, they could keep Europe reliant on volatile and expensive fossil gas.” 

The report also highlights that different policy choices could significantly reduce costs for households. Scenarios modelled by Dr Fearon show that limiting future data centre demand while rapidly accelerating renewable energy deployment could save Irish households an estimated €435 between 2025 and 2034, even if another global energy crisis were to occur.

Postdoctoral researcher Dr Seán Fearon, author of the report, said:

Our modeling shows that the high, growing, and inflexible nature of data centres’ electricity demand increases the number of hours in which gas sets the price in the Irish power system, driving up electricity costs. Historical evidence suggests this effect becomes even more pronounced during energy shocks, with the combination of high data centre demand and gas dependency significantly amplifying price spikes due to energy insecurity. Projections for the coming decade indicate that limiting data centre demand while accelerating renewable energy deployment could save the average Irish household an estimated hundreds of euros cumulatively between 2025 and 2034.

Notes 

Dr Seán Fearon is an ecological economist and postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), where his research focuses on postgrowth modelling and policy for decent living and wellbeing within ecological limits.

Friends of the Earth Ireland (FoE) is a national environmental and social-justice organisation. We are part of a global movement across 70 countries. Our current mission is to “campaign and build movement power to bring about the system change needed for a just world where people and nature thrive”. Our work centres on making Ireland’s climate transition inclusive, affordable and just. Friends of the Earth Ireland was the key civil society campaign organisation which worked for over a decade and galvanised coalitions and grassroots groups to secure the introduction of robust climate legislation and legally binding emissions targets in Ireland.    

https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/ 

Beyond Fossil Fuels is a civil society network committed to ensuring a just and rapid transition to a fossil-free, renewables-based future. Building upon the Europe Beyond Coal campaign, its goal is for Europe to be coal-free by 2030 and phase out fossil gas from the power sector by 2035. A clean and flexible energy system will deliver lasting benefits for people, the climate and the broader economy. Beyond Fossil Fuels is a non-profit organisation with an office in Berlin, with staff spread across Europe. https://www.beyondfossilfuels.org

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