Households ‘put on the hook’ for cost of data centre expansion to electricity grid

It is not possible to assess how much Irish households are paying to subsidise the proliferation of data centres due to an absence of transparency and traceability, according to a new report on how network charges are imposed.

However, the report maintains that Irish consumers pay disproportionately more for electricity than large data centres do.

The suggestions have been disputed by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) .

The report claims that by spreading the cost of network upgrades among both domestic and business customers, the cost of household bills is higher, despite the fact that many of the structural improvements are needed to accommodate data centres.