Scheme must be amended to exclude data centre
The fact that data centres are going to be able to avail of the €10,000 a month TBESS scheme is absolutely scandalous. People suffering from energy poverty will be paying to subsidise the enormous energy consumption of data centres owned by some of the richest corporations on the planet.
These data centres have driven up electricity prices for families. Collectively they use more electricity than all the rural homes in the state. Yet the government has designed its new TBESS scheme in such a way that they will be able to get €10,000 a month from public funds.
The scheme must be amended immediately to exclude data centres from having their electricity costs subsidised by the public.
Parliamentary Question answered which confirms data centres can benefit.
QUESTION
To ask the Minister for Finance if data centres will be able to avail of the temporary business energy support scheme.
REPLY
I indicated in my Budget speech that I would be introducing a Temporary Business Energy Support scheme (TBESS) to assist businesses with their energy costs over the winter months.
The scheme is being designed to be compliant with the EU state aid temporary crisis framework and will need to be approved by the EU Commission in advance of making payments.
The TBESS will be open to businesses that carry on a Case I trade, are tax compliant and have experienced a significant increase in their natural gas and electricity costs. The scheme will be administered by the Revenue Commissioners and will operate on a self-assessment basis. Businesses will be required to register for the scheme and to make claims within the required time limits.
It is proposed that the scheme will operate by comparing the average unit price for the relevant bill period in 2022 with the average unit price in the corresponding reference period in 2021. If the increase in average unit price is more than 50% then the threshold has passed and the business is eligible for support under the scheme. A business who has not seen an increase of 50% over the period will not be eligible for the scheme. This means, for instance, larger corporates who have the purchasing power to enter into favourable forward pricing arrangements and have not seen an increase of 50% of 2021 prices, will not be eligible for support under the scheme.
Once eligibility criteria are met, the support for businesses will be calculated on the basis of 40% of the amount of the increase in the bill amount. A monthly cap of €10,000 per trade will apply and an overall cap will apply on the total amount a business can claim in accordance with the State Aid Temporary Crisis Framework .
Where a business meets all of the criteria for the scheme, they may apply for support under the scheme subject to the applicable caps.
The operational details of the scheme are being worked through by officials and will be available soon.
