Electricity consumption in restaurants, pubs and retail jumps by at least 14%

Electricity consumed by restaurants, pubs and retailers jumped by at least 14 per cent in 2022, reversing a trend of falling energy consumption since the beginning of the pandemic, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO)

Restaurants and public houses had the highest electricity consumption of any buildings being used for non-domestic purposes in 2022, with an average of 196 kWh of electricity consumed per square metre.

The second highest energy consumers were retail buildings, where the average electricity consumed per square metre in 2022 was 141 kWh.

The median electricity consumption for restaurants and public houses last year was 30,703 kWh, up 15 per cent on 2021 consumption. Meanwhile for retail buildings, median consumption rose by 14 per cent in a year, to 11,970 kWh.

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The increases in consumption between 2021 and 2022 have bucked the trend of declining electricity consumption since 2020, when pandemic restrictions on certain businesses first started to take effect.

The CSO noted that the increase in usage was not uniform across buildings being used for the same purpose but with different Ber ratings.

Restaurants and public houses with A and B energy ratings saw decreases of 2 per cent in electricity usage between 2021 and 2022, while at the other end of the scale buildings with E energy ratings saw increases of 27 per cent in their electricity consumption last year.

Retail premises were the only type of premise to show a rise in consumption during 2021 for each category of energy rating, ranging from 9 per cent more in C rated buildings to 22 per cent for F and G rated buildings.

Electricity consumption in offices has seen a more modest increase, with the median electricity consumption of office buildings in 2022 up by 2 per cent on the previous year.

Meanwhile, median electricity consumption decreased in 2022 in buildings being used for community/day centres (down 1 per cent) and primary healthcare buildings (down 4 per cent).

The CSO analysis includes non-domestic buildings with a BER audit, and which use electricity as their main space heating fuel. It combines Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland data on non-domestic Building Energy Ratings (Ber) with ESB Networks data on Metered Electricity Consumption.