Councillors in south Dublin have passed a motion calling for a national moratorium on data centres that do not use renewable energy sources.
The council had disagreed on an earlier motion saying a blanket ban was needed.
In 2022, South Dublin County Council (SDCC) voted on a now-reversed amendment to prevent the construction of more data centres as part of the new County Development Plan.
SDCC's ban was contested by the Office of the Planning Regulator citing that it did not align with national policy.
Introducing this month's original motion, People Before Profit (PBP) councillors said a single data centre can use as much energy as the county of Kilkenny.
However, it was independent councillor Helen Farrell's amendment that South Dublin County Council (SDCC) finally agreed on at the monthly council meeting.
It called to allow the expansion of data centres that are powered by 100pc renewable sources like wind and solar.
Cllr Farrell said it was important not to exclude Ireland's energy businesses when dealing with data centres.
"We need to make sure they contribute positively to Ireland's environmental goals and supports energy business in Ireland. This will force a pause on expansion while it catches up with green energy," she said.
PBP councillor Madeleine Johansson said companies could work around the need to rely on renewable sources by using carbon credits and making it look like they were using clean energy on paper.
"I proposed a similar motion in 2022 and it was passed by the councillors here, [but] was overturned disgracefully against our democratic decision and our right," she said.
"It is ordinary people who will suffer if we don't take a strong stand now. Recently, Eirgrid said we can't continue building houses we desperately need because of the constraints on the grid."
Earlier this month, SDCC's rejection of two data centres in Lucan was overruled on appeal by An Coimisiún Pleanála.
Independent councillor Alan Edge said the overturning of SDCC's earlier decision to ban data centres was an intrusion of the council's reserve functions and its independence, with at least 30 of Ireland's data centres situated in the county.
"It's not just about the energy source - data centres have a corrosive effect on the environment, they use up our drinking water and they use AI which can take away people's jobs," he said.
Introducing the original motion, PBP cllr Jess Spear said it was important to stop the expansion of all data centres to tackle climate change.
"The government is not taking climate change seriously. It's simple maths - the lower the energy demand, the easier and faster we can decarbonise," said cllr Spear.
"Without data centres, Ireland's electricity demand over the last decade would have been relatively stable which is remarkable considering the population growth.
"But our energy use grew by 25pc - it was gobbled up by data centres. This means ordinary people are paying for these big companies to be out here, unquestioned.
"It will mean the rest of our families will run on dirty fossil fuels, our energy bills will go up and the climate will suffer."