Lynn Boylan says the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities must rewrite its data centre connection policy to comply with Climate Act in light of today’s Coolglass ruling by the Supreme Court.
The Dublin MEP said:
“The regulator will have to go back to the drawing board on its legally untenable data centre policy in light of today’s Supreme Court ruling.
“The December 2025 decision was widely seen as reopening the floodgates to data centres in a way that will drive up electricity demand, lock in fossil fuel generation, and make our legally binding climate targets harder to reach.
“The CRU refused to set a policy that would help keep the state within its climate limits. Its justification was that the Climate Act does not give it the legal powers to do so. [1]
“The implication is, if the CRU is to assess data centre demand in climate terms when setting connection policy, the Government must tell it to do so explicitly. In other words, the CRU says climate responsibility lies elsewhere.
“Instead, it claimed it could only focus on the climate implications of renewable energy generation, while remaining silent on the climate impact of rising electricity demand. [2] That is like trying to lose weight by eating more vegetables while refusing to cut back on cake.
“That position was never legally tenable and today’s ruling makes that clear.
“The Supreme Court reaffirmed that regulators like the CRU are bound by the Climate Act. The CRU has a legal duty to exercise its powers in a way that is consistent with our carbon budgets and climate action plans. Climate law is not optional and it is not somebody else’s job.
“That means the CRU has a legal duty to align its connection decisions with our carbon budgets and climate action plans. The Climate Act says so, and they don’t need an engraved letter from government.
“The CRU cannot hide behind narrow and flimsy interpretations of its role. Its decisions to allow data centres shape electricity demand and emissions for decades. That places it squarely inside the climate framework, whether it likes it or not.
“What goes unchallenged in the CRU’s approach is the assumption that it must meet the demands of Big Tech data centres regardless of the consequences for the public interest or for a liveable climate. [3]
“They could just say no to data centres which are not consistent with the climate obligations. But the possibility of saying no to big tech is never even entertained.
“Records I obtained via FOI showed the CRU’s proposed decision was based on logic from a pre-Coolglass era. [4] It seems the CRU was hoping the high court’s logic would be overturned by the Supreme Court.
“But it wasn’t. Now the data centre policy should be withdrawn and rewritten from scratch, or litigation will force them to.
“We need a regulator that will apply the law, and not one that waves through energy-hungry multinationals.”
Ends
Notes to Editor
[1] The CRU claims it does not have the powers to make a connections policy consistent with the Climate Act. Page 29 of the December 2025 LEU connection policy says:
“The CRU notes that the criteria around connection policy are within the remit of CRU and the system operators. In Proposed Decision CRU202504 it described how the CRU considers that the current provisions under the Climate Action Act do not provide a sufficient legal basis to allow the CRU to explicitly mandate specific emissions reduction and offsetting measures.”
[2] The CRU says it is bound by explicit statutory provisions to promote renewable electricity. Page 31 of connection policy:
“The CRU does not consider, therefore, that the Climate Action Act confers a statutory function on the CRU to set a connection policy other than in line with the CRU’s other existing statutory functions. The CRU has no existing statutory function in the 1999 Act or otherwise that allows it to set express requirements for emissions reduction and/or offsetting measures. In contrast, under section 9(1)(s) of the 1999 Act, the CRU has the statutory function of ensuring that grid connection policy takes account of renewable energy policy. Based on this statutory function the CRU intends to require new data centre connections to the electricity system to meet at least 80% of their annual demand with renewable electricity generated in the Republic of Ireland in line with current renewable energy policy and the associated renewable electricity targets. These provisions are described in more detail below in section “3.5 Renewable Electricity Requirement”.
[3] The CRU says it lacks the power to set “to set express requirements for emissions reduction and/or offsetting measures” [p31 connection policy]. But this is a red herring. They don’t need to limit themselves to those options when they could just refuse plans which aren’t climate consistent.
