January 13, 2026 View all news Friends of the Earth has raised serious concerns regarding the Government’s newly released Large Energy User Action Plan [1], warning that it risks prioritizing the interests of the data centre industry at the expense of households, existing businesses, and Ireland’s climate obligations. Friends of the Earth is calling for immediate clarity that households will not foot the bill for the infrastructure and incentives to support green energy parks for data centres.Deirdre Duffy, CEO of Friends of the Earth, stated: “Renewables must be used to decarbonize our existing homes and industries, not to fuel unchecked expansion of the data centre industry. We urgently need policies that prioritise decarbonisation and public benefit, rather than offering yet more incentives to a single sector. While the Plan promotes "green energy parks," it fails to acknowledge that massive new demand inevitably forces the grid to rely longer on highly polluting gas-fired power plants."Jerry Mac Evilly, Campaigns Director in Friends of the Earth, stated: “The plan appears to treat energy policy as a tool to support data centres rather than ensuring that these polluting facilities operate within Ireland’s infrastructural and climate limits. In particular, the plan appears to assume that upcoming renewables will be reserved for new data centres, ignoring the pressing need to decarbonize existing industries and meet the country’s legally binding carbon budgets. We are also concerned that the plan appears to ignore explicit warnings from both the Climate Change Advisory Council and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland [1]. Both organisations have repeatedly stressed that data centre expansion must be strictly aligned with carbon budgets. Ultimately we cannot allow our renewables development to become a subsidy for Big Tech while Irish families face the highest electricity prices in Europe.“The policy also raises other financial and policy concerns:It is unclear who will bear the costs of new energy infrastructure, including offshore wind and grid upgrades, which are necessary to support the data centre sector.Provisions for energy efficiency and heat reuse are limited to vague encouragements, with no mandates or enforceable requirements.The plan suggests diverting renewable energy from public schemes (ORESS) toward private Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (CPPAs), contradicting previous CRU requirements that renewables for data centres should be additional.The plan also includes a commitment to private wires legislation, which would allow data centres to build their own electricity networks, diverting renewable energy away from the public grid and into the private market.Friends of the Earth has called for a pause on connecting more data centres to the grid until the threat they pose to the security and sustainability of our energy system has been removed.Notes[1] See https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/publications/leap.html [2] The SEAI’s Energy Projections Report has warned that unlike the electrification of transport or home heating, data centres do not displace fossil fuel use elsewhere—they simply add new, massive demand that risks "abating increases" rather than "delivering reductions”.The Climate Change Advisory Council has stressed that renewable deployment and grid capacity must outpace demand growth to prevent data centres from driving fossil fuel generation. It has also called on Government to strengthen the legal mandates of relevant public bodies to ensure they act in accordance with climate objectives. The Council has also noted the need for a shift toward demand-management and transparency, specifically advising against "islanded" gas-powered connections. To ensure the sector contributes to, rather than undermines, decarbonisation, the CCAC has also recommended more stringent connection policies, mandatory renewable obligations, and the public reporting of sustainability metrics. Categorised in: Friends of the Earth Policy Resources Tagged with: Climate Justice Data Centres Energy