New statistics released today by Eurostat show that Ireland has the highest electricity prices in the EU.
For Irish household consumers, the per kWh cost was 37% above the EU average price. See figure 1 below.
Regarding an increase in electricity prices, Ireland saw the third highest jump of 32.7%, behind Romania and Austria. See Figure 4 below. Eurostat added: “Mainly network costs, as well as the reduction of subsidies and allowances drove the increase.”
Lynn Boylan MEP said:
“Once again, Ireland holds the dismal record of having the most expensive electricity in the EU.
“This will come as no surprise to the 322,234 households that can’t keep up with the soaring electricity bills.
“We’re in an emergency, yet Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael appear to have given up on taking meaningful action. There is nothing inevitable about this. It’s the result of political choices.
“Eurostat highlighted how ‘mainly network costs’ drove the increase. Earlier this year, I published independent research which showed how despite data centres driving the expansion of the electricity grid, they do not cover their own costs so households are left on the hook.
“Ultimately, forcing households to subsidise the electricity bills of data centres is a political choice and the government could stop that if they wanted to.
“We know from records I obtained via FOI from the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities that households will pay an additional €41 per year on network costs while data centres will get a year-on-year discount of €421,000 in network charges.
“We need to see a plan to make data centres pay their fair share for the massive strain they place on our electricity grid.”
Notes to the editor:
Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union. The statistics relate to the first half of 2026.
