Cowen says Government should ask experts and industry to consider future of energy, including data centres

Regulators should not publish a paper on data centres before Government has asked experts and the industry to consider the future of energy in the Republic, argues Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen.

The Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) is due to publish a consultation paper on connecting large energy users, a group that includes the controversial date centres, before the end of the year. Mr Cowen argued at the weekend that the regulator should not publish the report until the Government has had a chance to call a forum of industry and experts to weigh the future of energy in the Republic.

Mr Cowen, a long-time critic of the regulator, said he was “shocked” that the Government was allowing the commission to be the arbiter of growth for the Republic’s digital industry. “Ireland is a leader in the world on digital technologies. The data centre sector is vital to Ireland’s edge in the world as some manufacturing and other traditional industries are challenged here.”

He claimed that some investors had already chosen to locate in other EU countries over the Republic, while some were not even considering moving here as they feel excluded.

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He noted that the country and the digital industry were already on the path to decarbonisation. “This paper will be a significant moment in time for Ireland. It should not be published until the Government convenes industry and experts to navigate jointly the future of the digital industry.”