Facebook in Ireland has been seriously undercharged for their electricity use millions of euro.
It is understood that over 18 months, only 7% of the electricity usage was recorded at the Meta data centre at Clonee in Co Meath - that uses the equivalent of the electricity of 150,000 homes.
The ESB blamed a technical problem for under-recording the electricity use, the Business Post reported.
READ MORE: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar 'very concerned' as one in four people behind on paying gas bills
This comes as households feel the sting of rising bills with one in four people unable to pay gas bills.
Almost one in four people are now behind on their gas bills and around one in 10 electricity customers are struggling to pay, the energy watchdog told the Dáil energy committee this week.
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore told the committee that it was "incredible" that such a large data centre like Meta had been undercharged with no one noticing.
She said: "It just seems incredible that we have a factory that uses the equivalent of the electricity of 150,000 homes and they have been under-paying on their bill and that the ESB did not notice for 18 months."
In a statement to the Irish Mirror, Meta clarified its position: "We noticed a discrepancy between our own measured electricity usage and the usage in the bills we had been receiving. Upon identifying this discrepancy, we informed ESB and they are taking the necessary steps to rectify the matter. The outstanding charges will be captured in our future bills, which Meta will pay.”
Meanwhile, the CRU (Commission for the Regulation of Utilities) told the Oireachtas energy and environment committee on Tuesday that 23% of the country’s 700,000 gas customers are now behind in their bill payments.
On hearing the latest worrying statistics, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he is “very concerned” about the rising numbers of domestic customers in arrears.
The Taoiseach addressed the issue with reporters on the way into yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.
He said: “I’m very concerned to hear that over 20 per cent of people are in arrears on their gas bills.”
Mr Varadkar said he expects energy prices to go down later in the year adding: “Certainly we’re calling on the companies to do that.”
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