ApprovedDE, DK, IE2025households, Eurostat consumption band DC (2,500 to 4,999 kWh a year)reviewed 2026-10-16
Version 1, published 2026-10-16. Every claim on this page was proposed with AI help and approved by a person before publication; each links to a saved passage in a named source. Where the evidence does not defend a number, the page says so instead of giving one.What changed in this version
First published version.
Network charges pay for the wires: the power lines and cables that carry electricity from where it is made to your home. In 2025 the network part of an Irish household's electricity price came to about 12.5 cent on every kilowatt-hour, the highest of the three countries. Germany's was about 11.3 cent and Denmark's about 7.9. The EU average was about 8.2. A year earlier the Irish figure had been 7.9.
Ireland's network charge rose 58% in 2025, to the highest of the three countries
The network part of the household electricity price (the cost of the transmission and distribution networks), in cents per kWh, for a home using 2,500 to 4,999 kWh a year. Calendar years. Source: Eurostat.
Ireland: 10.3c in 2022, 7.9c in 2024, 12.5c in 2025.
The numbers (EUR per kWh)
Place
Year
Network costs
Ireland
2019
0.0799
Ireland
2020
0.0934
Ireland
2021
0.0936
Ireland
2022
0.1025
Ireland
2023
0.079
Ireland
2024
0.0789
Ireland
2025
0.1245
Germany
2019
0.074
Germany
2020
0.0864
Germany
2021
0.0776
Germany
2022
0.0804
Germany
2023
0.0937
Germany
2024
0.1147
Germany
2025
0.113
Denmark
2019
0.0524
Denmark
2020
0.0522
Denmark
2021
0.0515
Denmark
2022
0.0569
Denmark
2023
0.0764
Denmark
2024
0.0824
Denmark
2025
0.079
EU average
2019
0.0596
EU average
2020
0.0632
EU average
2021
0.0641
EU average
2022
0.0664
EU average
2023
0.0724
EU average
2024
0.0775
EU average
2025
0.0815
So the Irish charge did not creep up. It rose to 2022, fell back, and then jumped. This piece takes the stages in turn, and then what the regulator has already approved for the next two years.
Who sets the charge, and why it starts high
Ireland's networks are regulated monopolies. Each year the regulator, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), decides how much money EirGrid, which runs the high-voltage transmission network, and ESB Networks, which runs the local distribution network, may recover. That money is charged to electricity suppliers. It is the suppliers who decide how much of it to pass on to customers and how, according to the regulator and to the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
The CRU gives one reason Irish charges start high: Ireland sits on the edge of the EU and its people are spread out, so more network has to be built to reach fewer customers.
Why it fell back, then jumped
For years some network costs had been moved from large energy users onto households under a rebalancing arrangement. It was unwound from October 2022, and ESRI says that put downward pressure on charges. Eurostat's figures show the Irish charge falling from about 10.3 cent in 2022 to about 7.9 in 2023.
Then the pressure reversed. For the tariff year that began in October 2024 the CRU approved a rise of around 38 per cent in transmission revenue, which it put down to maintaining security of supply, offshore wind, the link to Europe and connecting more renewables, along with two one-off adjustments, one to bring revenues back in line with what was allowed and one for liabilities for generator outages. It also counted the end of the large-user benefit among the reasons a typical household bill would rise by €8.42 a month. That fits the jump in the chart.
Part of the transmission cost is not about wires at all. ESRI points to temporary emergency generators, brought in to keep supply secure, among the costs included in transmission charges, and it found that the system services charge, which covers the secure running of the grid, rose by 151 per cent between 2018/19 and 2023/24, far more than any other part of the household transmission charge.
What has already been approved
The money the networks may recover rises from €2.5 billion in 2025 to €3.1 billion in 2027
Revenue the regulator (the CRU) allows the transmission and distribution networks to recover from customers each year, as it published it in its annual decisions (prices of each year; the 2027 figures are in 2027 prices). The typical-household rise is for the tariff year starting the October before. Source: CRU.
Added together, the 3 yearly rises for a typical household come to about €14.27 a month.
The numbers
Year
Transmission (EUR million)
Distribution (EUR million)
Typical household rise (EUR a month)
2025
1412.08
1124.15
8.42
2026
1389.79
1336.8
2.41
2027
1502.44
1582.51
3.44
The next two years are already set. The CRU has approved about €2.7 billion of allowed network revenue for 2026 and about €3.1 billion for 2027, up from about €2.5 billion in 2025. For a typical household that means a further €2.41 a month from October 2025 and €3.44 a month from October 2026. Adding the three annual rises together gives about €14 a month more than before October 2024.
These steps belong to a five-year investment plan of up to €18 billion. In the baseline case ESRI says the plan's spending is 2.14 times what the previous five-year period allowed. Distribution revenue, which fell in 2025, is set to rise by about 19 per cent in 2026 and about 18 per cent in 2027.
What is driving the plan
The regulator points to demand growth, renewables, the offshore grid and keeping supply secure. ESRI adds a warning about data centres, which it expects to account for about a third of Ireland's electricity demand by 2030, mostly around Dublin, where the network is already under strain. It argues the cost of the extra transmission they need may fall disproportionately on other customers, and that new data centres should carry more of it and be sited where they cost the system less.
Not every part of the bill is rising. The CRU has also cut the levy that pays for renewable energy projects by 66 per cent from October 2026, to 51 cent a month for a household.
Covers the network part of the household electricity price (Eurostat's network costs component) for medium consumers (2,500 to 4,999 kWh a year) in Ireland, Germany and Denmark, with the EU average for context, and the regulator's own figures for Ireland's network revenue and typical household bills for tariff years 2024/25 to 2026/27.
Not covered: why Danish and German network charges are what they are; gas networks; the connection charges paid by generators; how network costs are shared between household and business customers beyond what the sources say.
Eurostat's figures are calendar years. The regulator's decisions are for tariff years that run from October to September, so the two cannot be lined up exactly. Percentages marked "derived" are our own arithmetic on published figures.
ESRI's view is that network costs were not the main reason Irish bills were high between 2018 and 2024, but that their importance is set to grow.
How much of each rise in network charges do suppliers pass on to households? The CRU and ESRI both say suppliers decide, and the published figures are the regulator's estimate for a typical bill.
Will the five-year plan come in at the baseline or at the higher investment case? The CRU says up to 18 billion euro, and ESRI notes the high case depends on investment of uncertain requirements.
Who should pay for the extra network that data centres need? ESRI argues for a larger share on data centres; no decision has been published.
Behind the article: the working
What you have just read is a summary of the work behind it. Below is that work: the chain of causes the article describes, each factor and link with its evidence and the disagreements about it, the data, and the sources.
Change in a typical household's network charges (quantity, EUR per month)Approved
The average increase in network charges on a typical domestic electricity bill for a tariff year (October to September), as the CRU states it, compared with the year before.
Data centre electricity demand (quantity)Approved
Electricity use by data centres, concentrated around Dublin, and projected by ESRI to reach about a third of total demand by 2030.
Distribution network allowed revenue (quantity, EUR million)Approved
The money the regulator allows ESB Networks to recover from customers in a year for the local distribution network, set by the CRU.
Large energy user rebalancing (policy)Approved
A framework that shifted some network costs from large energy users to households, unwound by the CRU from 1 October 2022.
Network costs (quantity, EUR/kWh)Approved
The part of the household price that pays for moving electricity over transmission and distribution networks (Eurostat's NETC component).
Price Review 6 network investment plan (policy)Approved
The CRU's five-year plan (2026 to 2030) for network investment by EirGrid and ESB Networks, funded through network charges.
Security of supply costs (condition)Approved
The cost of making sure there is enough power plant and system support to keep the lights on, including temporary emergency generation, recovered through transmission charges.
The money the regulator allows the transmission companies (EirGrid and ESB Networks as asset owner) to recover from customers in a year, set by the CRU.
The links, with their evidence and disagreements
Distribution network allowed revenue → Network costs
Distribution revenue pays for ESB Networks' local network and reaches households through the distribution charge. It fell about 5 per cent for 2025 and is set to rise by about 19 per cent in 2026 and about 18 per cent in 2027.
Typical lag: Charges change each October.
Size: moderate. Distribution tariffs for households were roughly flat between 2018 and 2024 (ESRI) and distribution revenue fell in 2025 (CRU), so most of the effect is still to come in the approved 2026 and 2027 rises.Approved
While the rebalancing framework was in place, large energy users paid less and households more. Unwinding it from October 2022 lowered the network charges households faced, and the end of the benefit it left is one reason charges rose again in 2024/25.
Typical lag: Unwound from 1 October 2022; benefit ended in the 2024/25 tariff year.
Size: moderate. ESRI says the unwinding put downward pressure on network charges, and the CRU counts the end of the large-user benefit among the reasons for the 2024/25 rise; neither sizes it.Approved
The five-year plan for network investment is paid for through network charges, so its size drives the charge for the next several years. The CRU's annual decisions already show the first steps.
Typical lag: Spread over the five years 2026 to 2030.
Size: large. The CRU describes the plan as up to 18 billion euro over five years and ESRI puts the baseline at 2.14 times the previous period's allowance; the approved typical-household steps so far are EUR 2.41 and EUR 3.44 a month, and whether the plan lands at the baseline or high case is not known.Approved
For a typical domestic customer, the impact on network charges on the electricity bill is expected to be an increase of c. €41.25 over the period (€3.44 per month).
In the baseline scenario, total expenditures are 2.14 times the ex-post 2020–2025 PR5 allowance, rising to 2.29 times the PR5 allowance in the high expenditure scenario.
Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) (research body, IE)
accepts the facts but weighs them differentlydistribution (fact)
ESRI expects data centres to make up about a third of Irish electricity demand by 2030, mostly around Dublin where the network is already stretched. It argues that the extra transmission they need may fall disproportionately on other customers, and that new data centres should carry more of the cost and be sited where they reduce congestion.
Their publication: Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), section 5.2.3, PDF p.50 (report p.37)as of 2026-04-14Approved
Security of supply costs → Transmission network allowed revenue
Keeping enough power plant and system support to meet demand costs money, and much of it is recovered through the transmission network's revenue. Temporary emergency generators are one example.
Size: large. ESRI says temporary emergency generation costs are included in transmission costs and that the system services charge rose 151 per cent between 2018/19 and 2023/24, the largest rise in the household transmission charge; the CRU lists security of supply first among the reasons for the 38 per cent rise in transmission revenue for 2025.Approved
The increase in transmission investments include those associated with maintaining security of supply, investing in offshore, interconnection with Europe and facilitating more renewables on the system.
The CRU sets the transmission revenue each year and the charge is levied on suppliers, who pass some or all of it on. A 38 per cent rise in transmission revenue for the tariff year from October 2024 raised the typical household's network charges by an average of EUR 8.42 a month, together with the end of a large-user benefit.
Typical lag: Charges change each October, so a calendar year's figure mixes two tariff years.
Size: large. The CRU gives an average rise of EUR 8.42 a month for 2024/25 and Eurostat's Irish network component rose from 7.9 to 12.5 cent per kWh between 2024 and 2025; how much of the revenue rise suppliers passed on is not published.Approved
The combined impact of both network charge requirements and the LEU reconciliation benefit no longer affecting the domestic network tariffs will see an average will see an average increase of €8.42 per month on a domestic customer bill for the 2024/25 tariff year.
Firstly, the k-factor adjustment, which is designed to ensure a network companies revenues are aligned with allowed or expected revenues, results in a €150.57m adjustment for 2025.
the transmission revenue requirement has been set at €1,412.08m. This represents an increase of approximately 38% on the 2024 revenues that were required.
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