Energy

Regulator investigating ‘systemic’ issues in ESB system after Meta was undercharged for 18 months

An ESB error led to the Facebook owner being undercharged for power at Clonee data centre due to substation technical fault

Meta’s hyperscale data centre in Clonee, Co Meath, which uses the same amount of electricity in a single year as 150,000-plus homes

The energy regulator is investigating whether there could be “systemic” problem with ESB’s billing system after it emerged that Meta had been undercharged for its electricity bills.

The Business Post reported that Meta has not been charged tens of millions of euro in electricity bills for its Irish data centre because of an ESB error.

The Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU), which policies the electricity market here, has confirmed Meta had been undercharged ...