By Yusuf Khan
DUBLIN -- Big tech built so many data centers in Ireland that the sector uses a fifth of the country's electricity -- more than all of Ireland's urban homes put together. For much of the past three years, the country barred new data centers to ensure its electricity grid could cope.
Now, Ireland is trying a new approach: B.Y.O.P., or Bring Your Own Power. New data centers and expansions of existing facilities are welcome, but must have their own power plants on site or contracts for new, largely renewable sources of energy to be produced nearby. They can't just grab juice from the grid.
"Under our policy, energy has to be brought to the table by the large energy user," said Peter Burke, the Irish minister for enterprise, tourism and employment.
Ireland's policy is being seen as a leading indicator for how countries and regions can balance the need to attract the tidal wave of investment that comes with betting on AI, while also making sure residents don't pay for the costs through either electricity blackouts or higher power prices.
There is a growing public backlash to data centers. More Americans now say the energy-hungry facilities have more downsides than positives, according to the Pew Research Center, and 71% oppose having one built in their own area, according to a March Gallup survey. The number of new data center projects being blocked by local opposition in the U.S. is soaring, from six between 2023 and 2024 to 30 in 2025, and more than 20 in only the first three months of this year, according to Data Center Watch, an organization tracking the trend.
Countries such as India and Mexico are increasingly worried about the strain not only on electricity but water supplies, too.
Maine recently passed a moratorium on data centers larger than 20 megawatts until November 2027, and electricity-supply issues are dominating conversations in Virginia -- colloquially known as data-center alley. The White House has looked to introduce similar to Ireland's new initiative, where tech companies in the U.S. would pay for the power plants added to the grid on their behalf.
Despite the qualms, many countries don't want to miss out on the investment either. Just four big tech firms -- Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Google -- are expected to invest $670 billion on AI infrastructure alone this year. That includes data centers but also the power needed to fuel the new technologies.
Ireland reflects both the promise and peril of the data-center boom. Some 21% of the country's entire power generation goes to data centers. In Dublin and the neighboring county of Meath, that power figure rises to more than half.
Developers first set up shop in the country during the late 2000s, drawn by low taxes and access to the European Union combined with an English-speaking workforce.
However, the country's electricity grid couldn't keep up. With the supply already pushed to its limit, housing estates in Dublin's northern suburbs have been going dark during storms as have cities along the coasts. Electricity prices are some of the highest in Europe.
"Because the data centers are so concentrated in geographic areas, and that they have such a large size relative to demand elsewhere, even when they're spread around the country the grid infrastructure is insufficient to meet their demands," said Hannah Daly, professor of sustainable energy at University College Cork.
EirGrid, the state-owned electric power transmission operator, spent 100 million euros, equivalent to $116 million, building a new substation to serve some 200,000 planned homes nearby. But the substation's supply was "exhausted" by demands from nearby data centers, meaning a new substation is needed if the housing projects are to go ahead, according to Lynn Boylan, a member of the opposition nationalist party Sinn Féin.
When asked about Boylan's allegations, EirGrid said in an email it constantly tries to balance supply and demand and is working to facilitate the government's new energy action plan, including the connection of new data centers.
Ireland is keen not to alienate big tech, which lines its coffers. U.S. tech companies accounted for some 22% of Ireland's tax revenues in 2024, according to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council. With some of the lowest corporate tax rates in Europe, companies such as Microsoft, Pfizer and Meta all have staked a major presence in the country.
"You can't really understand why Ireland would accept a scenario where at this point nearly 25% of the grid's electricity is going to one sector of the economy without understanding that economic reliance that Ireland has on U.S. companies and U.S. foreign direct investment," said Patrick Brodie, an environmental politics professor at University College Dublin.
Microsoft built its first data center outside the U.S. in Ireland in 2009, and now has close to 20 in the country. But because of AI, the demand for energy is rising much faster. Globally, Microsoft's demands for electricity use have swelled to 40 gigawatts from 6.3 in 2017.
"It's like a hockey stick on a hockey stick," said Noelle Walsh, president of Microsoft's cloud operations and innovation, referring to the company's power usage rise because of AI. "I think unprecedented growth."
The end of the Irish moratorium on new data centers has allowed Microsoft to try to proceed with plans for a big new data site in Naas, just outside Dublin. The company said it is in discussions with the government and energy developers, and no final decisions have been taken.
Meanwhile, data-center developer Pure DC and AVK, a power provider, announced plans for a new data center to be developed in Dublin with its own micro grid. It will use locally sourced biomethane to power operations, with on-site energy storage in the form of hydrotreated vegetable oil and batteries.
"Our micro grid that we've installed on site proves that you don't need to be reliant on fossil fuels to be able to operate the data center, and we've proven that we can bring digital infrastructure growth back into Dublin in a period of uncertainty and constraint," said Ian Whitfield, chief technology officer at Pure DC.
Write to Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 07, 2026 12:14 ET (16:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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