“The CRU’s final decision on Price Review 6 confirms what we feared: ordinary people and local businesses will pay more, while the biggest energy users pay less.
“According to the CRU’s own Impact Analysis, households face network charge increases of between 15% and 28%. Small businesses like barbers and local shops will see rises of up to 26%, while hotels and other medium businesses face increases of up to 20%.
“At the same time, large corporates are protected. Pharmaceutical plants could see decreased of 9%. Most notably, extra-large energy users such as data centres will see their network charges fall by between 6% and 20%.
“This is a textbook example of an energy system rigged against ordinary people.
“The CRU claims these charges are needed to fund grid upgrades, but its own documents conveniently avoid naming one of the biggest drivers of those costs: data centres. Twelve “cost drivers” are cited yet data centres are not mentioned once.
“That omission defies reality. The CRU-commissioned independent analysis, DPER, Eirgrid and the CRU LEU Connection policy all make clear data centres are massive drivers of demand. To suggest that this level of demand is not a driver of grid costs is simply not credible.
“Once again, households are being asked to shoulder higher bills and small businesses are squeezed.
“The public are told this is unavoidable while multinational tech companies receive discounts on an energy system increasingly built around their needs.
“This is not a technical outcome. It is a political choice. Data centres must pay the true cost of the grid they rely on — not expect households to subsidise them yet again.”
