WHO PAYS FOR RENEWABLES? THE EFFECT OFDATACENTRES ON RENEWABLE SUBSIDIES. ESRI Research Bulletin 2019/11

Ireland faces several targets for renewable energy usage, across the heating, transport and electricity sectors. These targets are set as a proportion of total energy usage. In the case of electricity, 40% of electricity must be generated from renewable sources by 2020. To meet this target, renewable electricity generation is subsidised through the Public Service Obligation levy, which appears on all consumers’ bills. The PSO is levied on residential consumers, commercial consumers and large industrial consumers according to their contribution to peak demand – the more the sector contributes to peak demand, the higher the portion of PSO that they pay.