The European Commission is urging households to reduce electricity use during peak hours as AI data centres rapidly expand and strain European power grids. Alongside this appeal, the Commission published a Data Centre Energy Efficiency Package introducing a rating scheme and minimum performance standards for data centres. Ireland serves as a stark example, with data centres consuming 22% of national electricity — the highest per-capita share globally — and Dublin already rejecting Google's application for a new facility. Research suggests electricity bills in high-density data centre regions could rise 20–40%. The EU faces a core contradiction: it is simultaneously pursuing an AI gigafactory programme requiring gigawatts of power while asking consumers to conserve energy. European energy prices are already higher than in the US, putting EU AI companies at a structural disadvantage. The Commission's efficiency measures address symptoms but not the root problem — insufficient electricity generation and grid capacity to support decarbonisation, electrification, and AI ambitions at once.
