Hidden datacentre tax' costing Irish households millions, report says

Datacentres in Ireland have grown rapidly and consumed 22% of the country’s electricity, exceeding the share used by all urban homes combined. A report commissioned by Friends of the Earth Ireland and Beyond Fossil Fuels links this demand to higher household electricity bills and economic costs, estimating 715m drained from the Irish economy and a cumulative average increase of 360 per household between 2015 and 2023. The report frames the impact as households subsidising big tech through a hidden data-centre tax. Modelling attributes higher costs to datacentres’ high, growing, and inflexible electricity demand increasing the hours when gas sets prices, especially during energy shocks. Industry representatives dispute the findings, while the Irish government broadly supports datacentre expansion as an innovation enabler.

"Ireland's growing number of datacentres last year used 22% of the country's electricity, more than all urban homes combined, according to the Central Statistics Office. The equivalent figure in the US and UK is 6%. The centres have drained 715m (620m) from the Irish economy and increased household bills by a cumulative average of 360 between 2015 and 2023, said the report commissioned by Friends of the Earth Ireland and Beyond Fossil Fuels."

"It argued that Irish households have been subsidising big tech via a hidden data centre tax on their electricity bills. Jill McArdle, of Beyond Fossil Fuels, said: The Irish case should be a warning for Europe: letting big tech expand datacentres unchecked will have massive ripple effects on the economy and European households. Combined with fossil gas, this creates a toxic mix driving up energy prices for people already struggling through another energy crisis."

"Sean Fearon, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and author of the report, said: Our modelling shows that the high, growing and inflexible nature of datacentres' electricity demand increases the number of hours in which gas sets the price in the Irish power system, driving up electricity costs. Historical evidence suggested this effect became more pronounced during energy shocks, with the high datacentre demand and gas dependency combining to amplify price spikes, he said."

"Datacentre industry representatives disputed the findings and said the sector boosted the economy. The Irish government has broadly welcomed the expansion, calling datacentres a core enabler of our technology-rich innovation economy, and denies they create a stealth tax on consumers."

Read at www.theguardian.com