Ohio manufacturers made clear Wednesday that the future of the state’s power system cannot be built on speculation.

Members of the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association’s (OMA) Energy Committee met to examine the demand forecasts now shaping billions of dollars in transmission and generation planning across the region. Utilities and grid planners have pointed to enormous potential new loads tied largely to data-center development, projections increasingly used to justify major infrastructure investments that customers ultimately finance.

Manufacturers said projections alone cannot become the foundation for billion-dollar infrastructure decisions. When forecasts move into transmission plans and utility investment proposals, customers can end up paying years before the demand appears and, in some cases, even if it never does.

“Forecasts are not demand,” said Lindsey Short, managing director of energy and advocacy services for the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association. “And customers should not be paying today for electricity load that might appear someday.”

The meeting featured an energy engineering report from OMA Energy Engineer John Seryak, P.E., of RunnerStone, LLC, examining inflated load forecasts, rising transmission costs and the implications of the upcoming PJM 2027–2028 capacity auction. Members also discussed challenges emerging from the regional interconnection queue and heard guest remarks from Chris Zeigler, executive director of the American Petroleum Institute Ohio.

Additional briefings included a regulatory update from Chief OMA Energy Counsel Kim Bojko of Carpenter Lipps LLP covering key Public Utilities Commission of Ohio proceedings, along with market trends analysis from Susanne Buckley of Scioto Energy.

OMA leaders said forecast integrity and cost accountability will remain central as policymakers weigh decisions that could shape electricity costs for Ohio industry for decades. 3/4/2026