Deal to offer data centres price cut on gas blasted as 'beyond unsustainable'

Plans for 17 new data centres may overwhelm Ireland's gas supply, but a proposal to offer them reduced prices in return for planned outtages has been slammed as a "reckless drive toward catastrophe"

Add to preferred sources Comments News Stephen Holland Local Democracy Reporter 17:04, 07 Sep 2026 Updated 17:11, 07 Sep 2026 View Image Paul Murphy TD during a press briefing by People Before Profit at Leinster House (Image: Gareth Chaney/Collins)

A deal to offer data centres a cut on gas prices has been slammed as a “reckless drive toward catastrophe”.

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has proposed a deal to allow data centres to pay a reduced price on the condition that their supply may be cut intermittently when demand is high, according to a report in The Irish Times . This comes as the CRU warns the expansion of data-centres will make it difficult to source enough gas to meet national demand during extreme cold events.

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy pointed out that data centres currently pay less than households for gas and approximately half the price for their electricity that households pay. Rather than provide them further reduced rates, Deputy Murphy reiterated a call for a ban on the 17 new planned data centres and for them to pay the same as everyday households.

The CRU has estimated that the new centres would have the gas demands of 2.6 million homes. The deal stipulates that the centres would get discount gas on condition they accept that when gas demand is very high nationally they may experience planned interruptions.

"It is shocking that data centres are set to be offered cut price gas. They already pay much less for their gas than households, and they pay about half what householders pay for electricity", Deputy Murphy stated

“This causes intense annoyance among households when, at the same time, the Government refuses to provide energy credits for households facing a winter of crippling energy costs. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has indicated that 17 planned new data centres would demand gas volumes equivalent to 2.6 million homes, more homes than we even have in the State. Electricity consumption by data centres is at about 24% of all electricity, and is moving towards 30% by 2030.

“It beggars belief that the Irish authorities continue to bend over backwards to accommodate more and bigger data centres, even as data centres face growing resistance elsewhere. In the US, local communities are rejecting new data centres and moratoriums on data centres are spreading rapidly across large parts of the US.

“What our government is doing is beyond unsustainable, it is a reckless drive toward catastrophe. We need a ban on new data centres to stop their alarming growth in consumption of our electricity, gas and water before it is too late, and existing data centres should pay at least as much for their electricity and gas as households.”

Green Party Councillor and Spokesperson for Expenditure, Digitalisation and Media Hazel Chu also criticised the deal and in the midst of an energy crisis “households should not be footing the bill” for the demands of data centre usage. “The Government should not be subsidising the enormous energy demands of data centres,” she stated.

“The Green Party proposal is that data centres should pay their fair share through a levy on the huge amounts of electricity and gas they consume. We proposed a levy of €11 per MWh on electricity consumption and €5 per MWh on gas used by data centres and associated onsite generation.

“Today’s news exposes the Irish energy markets to greater risks of sudden and sustained increases in the price of gas. This Government needs to stop choosing to cosy up to Big Tech rather than address the urgent needs of the people.

“If the Government's answer to unlimited data centre growth is discounted fossil gas and diesel generators, then it is time to hit pause. We need a moratorium on new data centres until Ireland has an actual plan for, and get a handle on, these growing energy concerns.”

The proposal highlights concerns about the strain data centres are placing on Ireland’s energy systems. Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan said the proposal amounted to a series of “work-arounds” when what was needed was a halt to data-centre expansion.

“Rather than nip the problem in the bud by imposing a moratorium on data centres connecting to the gas grid, the CRU wants to roll out the red carpet for them,” she said. Speaking on Newstalk’s Claire Byrne Show, Ms Boylan described the deal as “deeply unfair” to households” and small businesses.

“We shouldn’t be connecting data centres directly to the grid in the first place,” she said.“It always seems to be that they’re getting a favourable deal” when it comes to energy prices.”

The CRU said: “It has become apparent to the CRU that new large industrial customers – a cohort composed predominantly of data centres and electricity generators – and the new demand load they may require, have the potential to have a major impact on the gas system in the near future.”

They said it would not propose interruptible connections for power generators as this “would transfer an unacceptable level of security of supply risk from the gas system to the electricity system”, but it felt data centres could build flexibility into their operations to handle interruptions. In return, “a tariff discount would be applied reflecting the probability of interruption. This would be reflected in the annual tariff-setting process.”

This content is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme

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