What the proposed Private Wires Bill means for our energy system and climate obligations

Friends of the Earth addressed the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy today in relation to the proposed Private Wires bill. In its current form, we believe this Bill carries major risks of increased pollution, diversion of renewables and financial resources away from the public network, strain on the grid and increased costs. 

Here are some of the core points we raised today on the Private Wires Bill in its current form:

• It will deepen inequalities in our energy system, leveraging significant amounts of resources for the primary benefit of the data centre industry - an industry that is already guzzling energy and water at alarming rates.
• If a data centre with a private wire keeps their connection to the grid, they will pay less to EirGrid and ESBN because they are using less electricity through that connection. However, the System Operators must still maintain full capacity for it, so their costs do not decrease. This means that not only will data centers pay less, the remaining network costs would be shifted onto other customers, including households already facing exorbitant energy bills.
• The above also means that data centre operators could hoard capacity on the public grid while primarily using their own private connection.
• The Bill does not align with Ireland’s climate law and it contains serious oversights in regards to climate obligations.
• The Bill does not expressly prohibit direct connection to fossil fuel generators. A thorough assessment of this bill’s potential for fossil gas expansion should be carried out.
• A real risk exists that this Bill will end up diverting renewables and clean energy away from other sectors—such as our homes. If passed, private wires will allow companies with more revenue than the state to compete with it for access to renewables that come on stream.

Fundamentally, this comes down to fair allocation of energy resources and the question of who the energy transition is supposed to serve. 

Read our Opening Statement and submission to the Committee on the Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Private Wires Bill 2025, which details our recommendations as well:

Opening Statement 

Our submission