The Cost of Data Centres

June 1, 2026

New FoE Ireland report by CUSP fellow Seán Fearon modelling the impact of data centres on electricity bills for Irish households
May 2026

Commissioned by Beyond Fossil Fuels and Friends of the Earth Ireland, a new report by CUSP research fellow Seán Fearon models how the constant, inflexible, and rising share of data centre demand on the Irish electricity grid is pushing up electricity prices for households across the state.

Using hourly data from 2015 to 2023, the report estimates that data centre energy demand forces gas to act as price setter in the electricity market (ISEM) more often, thereby increasing wholesale costs. As a result, it’s estimated that the average Irish household paid an extra €360 on electricity bills over the period. Cumulatively, households have paid €715 million in wholesale electricity costs driven by data centres. Current plans for expansion could see households pay hundreds of millions more in the next decade.

But a deeper question is at play. Who is the grid for? Communities, citizens, and a degraded environment? Or multinational corporations upon which Ireland has developed a deeply unhealthy economic dependency?

Data centre energy demand already accounts for 22% of all electricity consumed in the south of Ireland—unprecedented globally. By 2030, this may rise to 30%—a madness, Fearon argues. Renewable energy is being built to meet data centre demand instead of lowering household bills and dislodging dependency on expensive, dirty, and volatile gas power.

In an era of climate and ecological crises, this is not a rational, viable, or just model of development. Ireland needs an economy that seeks to eradicate deprivation and fight inequality, within ecological limits, as its primary objective.

The project was carried out with Beyond Fossil Fuels and Friends of the Earth Ireland. The full report is available for download in pdf via the FoE Ireland website.

Full report →

On the back of that report, Friends of the Earth Ireland has launched a petition urging the Irish government to rein in data centre growth through a moratorium, so ordinary people no longer have to bear the burden. All details via → https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/act/no-more-data-centres/.