Energy demand by datacentres in Ireland has added hundreds of euros to household electricity bills in a pattern that could be replicated across Europe, according to a report. Ireland’s growing number of datacentres last year used 22% of the country’s electricity, more than all urban homes combined , according to the Central Statistics Office. The equivalent figure in the US and UK is 6% . The centres have “drained” €715m (£620m) from the Irish economy and increased household bills by a cumulative average of €360 between 2015 and 2023, said the report commissioned by Friends of the Earth Ireland and Beyond Fossil Fuels. It argued that Irish households have been subsidising big tech via a “hidden data centre tax” on their electricity bills. Jill McArdle, of Beyond Fossil Fuels, said: “The Irish case should be a warning for Europe: letting big tech expand datacentres unchecked will have massive ripple effects on the economy and European households.…