As autumn draws in and the evenings get chilly, the pressure to find the money to pay expensive energy bills is really ramping up. Too many people will have to start making horrible choices – such as between heating and eating. What’s even worse, is that for thousands, energy poverty is a year round issue – it’s a constant stress of worrying about whether you can afford to meet your basic needs.
But here’s the really maddening thing. Ireland’s crippling energy prices are not solely the result of energy market fluctuations. They’re also due to political choices about whose energy needs get prioritised, who pays, and who is protected. And at the moment, the Government seems to be prioritising the energy needs of data centres over ordinary people who are simply trying to keep the lights on and stay warm.
Data centres are putting Ireland’s energy system under huge pressure – with a 412% increase in electricity usage since 2015. This is pushing up the cost of energy for ordinary people. Households are facing higher network charges this year, but the largest energy users aren’t seeing comparable price hikes. Some scenarios in the energy regulator’s current price review even show their prices lowering over time. While data centres get energy discounts, ordinary households are going into debt!
Not only is this making life extremely difficult for many people, but it’s also terrible news for our climate. Data centres have massive energy needs. They burn through climate-wrecking fossil fuels at frightening rates but they’re also guzzling up massive amounts of renewable energy. That’s renewable energy that we should be using for powering our homes and public services, for electrifying our public transport, for getting Ireland’s entire energy system off fossil fuels. But instead data centres are getting first dibs on far too much of Ireland’s renewable energy, making it very difficult for the rest of us to end our dependence on dirty, expensive fossil fuels.
It’s time to say that enough is enough. It’s time to make our voices heard. Let’s make sure we’ve a big crowd outside the Dáil to demand urgent action to stop more homes falling into energy poverty this winter. Together, let’s tell the Government that we won’t let them keep putting data centres’ profits before the wellbeing of both people and our planet.
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