The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association (OMA) this week joined Republican and Democratic lawmakers, consumer advocates, and fiscal watchdogs at the Statehouse to back the Electricity Forecast Integrity Act, legislation designed to stop speculative utility forecasts from becoming customer costs without proof.

The coalition delivered a blunt message. Before monopoly utilities use projected electric demand to justify billions in new spending, someone outside the utility should have to check the math. Ohio families, small businesses and manufacturers should not be forced to pay for utility plans built on inflated assumptions, unverified projections or load that may never show up.

“Planning for reliability does not mean accepting every utility forecast at face value,” said Lindsey Short, OMA managing director of energy and advocacy services. “Ohio can prepare for future demand without letting speculation become a business model.”

When monopoly utilities ask customers to finance billions in new costs, the burden should be on the utility to prove the need. And “trust us” should never be the standard for raising electric bills. 6/9/2026