Wasted Renewable Energy Tops €1 Billion during the lifetime of this Government

September 2026 marked an appalling milestone, as we have now surpassed €1 billion in wasted renewable wind energy since the Government came to power in January 2025.  Despite the Government committing in the Programme for Government to use surplus renewable energy, that would otherwise be wasted, to help those in energy poverty, to date there has been no action.

Budget 2027, announced earlier this month, did nothing to reduce energy bills for the 550,000 homes in energy poverty, in fact we know that the bills will continue to rise.

The ESRI recently published that for a cost of €370 million a year energy poverty could be eliminated.  Given the scandalous levels of waste that exist, and the €1.2 billion committed to fuel excise cuts, it is now clearly a policy choice to leave energy bills high for everyone, including those in energy poverty.

By announcing a desire to tackle energy poverty and use the waste that is available, the Government could put in place a permanent and sustainable solution to energy poverty.  We urge them to do this without further delay.

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