Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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195. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment in light of the substantial pressure that data centres are placing on grid systems, and given that they are the largest driver of energy demand in the State, if he is considering any plans to direct the Regulator to increase the network charge of large energy users in order to finance repairs and ensure households do not bear the brunt of costs. [7129/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Responsibility for the regulation of the electricity market is a matter for the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) which is an independent regulator, accountable to a Committee of the Oireachtas and myself as Minister. The CRU was assigned responsibility for the regulation of the Irish electricity sector following the enactment of the Electricity Regulation Act, 1999 and subsequent legislation.

The CRU is responsible for, inter alia, the economic regulation of the electricity system operators ESB Networks, distribution, and EirGrid, transmission. The cost of building, safely operating and maintaining the electricity system is recovered by system operators through charges on customers, all of which is overseen and agreed with the CRU. System operator spending is agreed with the CRU in five-year cycles, referred to as Price Reviews. Price Reviews set the level of investment in the grid over a given 5-year period.

The CRU set the Electricity Tariffs annually for the period October to September each year. Network charges are set directly by the CRU which has full independent responsibility to regulate network charges. I am aware that as part of the National Energy Demand Strategy (NEDS) there is an action for CRU to review network tariffs.

The CRU is independent of myself as Minister in the exercise of its functions and as such, in this instance, the Deputy may wish to engage with CRU directly regarding the issue raised. The CRU has a contact email address for Deputies, oireachtas@cru.ie, should they wish to raise matters of concern such as that in the Question.

Notwithstanding their independence, I met with representatives from the CRU and ESB Networks on Friday the 31st of January, to discuss the Storm Éowyn response and the impact on customers.

I requested a number of actions be taken, once the initial storm response has been completed. These measures include an enhanced Winter 2025 Grid Resilience Plan. This will be developed within the next month, and will be implemented by ESB Networks between March and October to enhance the resilience of the grid in the most vulnerable locations for the upcoming winter.

I also requested a full review by ESB Networks and CRU, as part of the PR6 (Sixth Annual Price Review) decision-making process, of the planned grid enhancement and in light of the damage caused by Storm Éowyn, with specific additional projects and investments identified to future proof Ireland’s energy grid and to adapt to the challenges of climate change.