Who Gets the Power? Private Wires and Ireland’s Unequal Energy Future

Our elected representatives are currently making decisions that will have profound impacts on the country’s ability to transition to a renewable energy future that benefits all, as opposed to just a handful of powerful corporations. The Government has recently moved to allow “Private Wires”, which would allow large energy users, including data centres, to build their own electricity lines to connect directly to electricity generators.

In July 2025, the Government published its Private Wires Policy Statement and, in December, set out the beginning of its legal framework to allow the licensing of Private Wires.

While this might sound like a technical change, it has profound implications on who our energy system is built for and who pays for it.

What are “Private Wires”?

Private wires are privately owned electricity lines that directly connect a generator of electricity, such as a wind farm, a solar farm, or a gas plant to a specific energy user.

Until now, Ireland’s electricity grid has been owned and operated by the state through ESB Networks and EirGrid. The vast majority of electricity, whether from wind farms, solar farms, or gas-fired power plants, is transported through this shared public network on its way to homes, public buildings and businesses.

The Private Wires policy and draft law changes this. It allows private corporations to construct their own electricity cables connecting directly from electricity generation infrastructure to an energy consumer, such as a factory or a data centre, effectively bypassing the public grid.

Why is this an important issue?

This is really a decision about who Ireland’s energy system is for. The proposal to introduce private wires, in its current form, carries major risks of increased climate pollution, as well as a diversion of renewables and financial resources away from the public network. That is why we have argued, at Oireachtas Committee proceedings, that private wires should not be treated as a narrow technical reform, but as a choice with serious consequences for binding climate targets, electricity costs, grid planning and decarbonisation.

This matters even more because of the context in which the policy is emerging. Data centres already make up a very large and fast-growing share of electricity demand in Ireland, growing by 412% in the ten years to 2024. Due to government inaction, data centres are already being allowed to absorb a huge share of electricity, water and infrastructural resources for private profit.

Who benefits from private wires?

It seems that the primary beneficiaries of private wires are likely to be Ireland’s data centre industry and the Big Tech players behind it. The Government itself frames private wires as part of a broader strategy to attract “the next generation of investment in energy intensive sectors” such as data centres and AI.

These Big Tech multinationals have massive financial resources to invest in dedicated infrastructure and secure direct access to electricity generation. This creates a risk of corporate capture of renewable energy resources, where well-capitalised companies secure clean electricity for their own use at the expense of households, public services, and other sectors that are also sorely in need of decarbonisation.

On the other hand, ordinary households and small businesses stand to gain little, and may face unfair indirect costs if large energy users availing of private wires reduce their contributions to the maintenance of the public grid. 

What are the issues?

From a climate justice perspective, there are major issues with the current private wires proposal.

A central issue is the risk posed to binding limits on carbon pollution. Private wires could facilitate increased fossil fuel use, particularly if data centres are allowed to connect directly to gas-fired generation. The current draft legislation does not explicitly prohibit such outcomes.

Another key concern is the diversion of renewable energy. Ireland’s supply of renewable electricity, labour, and grid capacity is currently limited. Allowing data centres to secure direct access to renewables risks diverting these resources away from decarbonising our homes, our modes of transport, and existing industry.

Energy affordability is also a major issue. Unless action is taken, any data centre may be able to use its own private wire connection, draw less from the public grid and pay less to maintain that same grid as a result. However, the grid still has to be fully available to supply it if needed, so the overall cost of maintaining the public system does not decrease. This means other customers may end up paying more, effectively creating a cross subsidy.

There are also concerns about wasted grid capacity. Large users like data centres could hoard grid connections as backup while primarily using private wires, preventing that capacity from being used for housing or other essential needs.

What needs to happen?

Put simply, the Government needs to press pause on any Private Wires bill which would act as a back door for massive data centre expansion. No electricity legislation should be progressed without a robust analysis of the impact of Private Wires legislation on Ireland’s binding limits on climate pollution. 

Significant changes are required before any legislation should proceed:

• The policy must be aligned explicitly with Ireland’s climate law and carbon budgets, ensuring that any private wire project demonstrably contributes to real decarbonisation rather than undermining it.
• There should be strict limits on fossil fuel use, including a clear “renewables-only” requirement or an emissions threshold for projects.
• Safeguards are needed to ensure fairness in cost allocation. All users who benefit from the public grid should contribute appropriately to its costs, preventing households from further subsidising data centre development.
• The Government should prioritise the public interest in allocating scarce resources like renewable energy and grid capacity. 

Blog by Seán McLoughlin, Climate Policy Campaigner