Electric utilities across the country are forecasting significant increases in demand due to new large loads such as data centers and advanced manufacturing. The OMA has raised concerns about the accuracy of these forecasts, however, and warned that inflated forecasts are driving up customer bills without delivering new generation. Earlier this month, the OMA asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to open an investigation into AEP Ohio’s load forecasts to verify their accuracy and methodology.

Regional transmission operators (RTOs) including PJM are responsible for verifying the accuracy forecasts for planning purposes and to set market demand. Recently, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Rosner wrote a letter to the RTOs addressing concerns of load forecast inflation. He states in his letter that, “improving forecasts by even a few percentage points in the right direction … can impact billions of dollars in investments and customer bills.” His letter reflects the concerns of the Electricity Customer Alliance’s letter that was sent to FERC earlier this year, as well as the OMA. 10/2/2025