The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association (OMA) this week urged the Select Committee on Data Centers to protect customers by requiring data centers to pay upfront for the transmission upgrades needed to serve their facilities.

Testifying before the committee, John Seryak, energy engineer for OMA Energy Group, said lawmakers face three central questions. How many data centers will locate in Ohio, how much power will they need and who will pay for the electrical infrastructure.

Today, transmission upgrades driven by utility load forecasts can cost hundreds of millions of dollars per data center and even billions for clusters, with those costs socialized through utility transmission rates and borne by Ohio ratepayers.

Seryak said there is a better option. Data centers should pay for their own transmission system upgrades upfront. He noted that data centers have the financial capacity and incentive to pay their own way, and that manufacturers already pay upfront for certain distribution upgrades through contribution-in-aid-of-construction mechanisms.

“The solution is to treat data centers like other customers of the distribution system,” Seryak told lawmakers. “Have the data centers pay for their extraordinary upgrades, in full, up front.”

OMA also warned that inaccurate utility load forecasts can drive unnecessary transmission and PJM capacity costs, citing the PJM Independent Market Monitor’s finding that forecasts of unbuilt data centers increased capacity costs by more than $21 billion over three years. Seryak urged lawmakers to examine how utility forecasts, behind-the-meter generation, transmission planning and PJM market rules affect costs for Ohio customers.

The testimony reinforced OMA’s core message on data center policy. Customers that create costs should pay those costs, but manufacturers and other Ohio ratepayers should not be asked to underwrite speculative forecasts, utility-driven infrastructure buildouts or extraordinary upgrades that can be directly attributed to large-load customers. 6/11/2026