Inflated electricity demand forecasts are driving up electric bills in Ohio by compelling unneeded grid investments, according to the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association.
The business group said recent findings by the PJM Interconnection’s market monitor validate its claim along with its own study of load forecasts from AEP Ohio, the state’s largest utility. The report was released alongside an outline of legislation to be introduced that would require utility load forecasts to be vetted and approved by state regulators before they’re submitted to the regional grid operator.
“Customers are being asked to pay for a future that may never arrive,” said Ryan Augsburger, OMA president, in a statement. “Speculative forecasts are being treated like guaranteed demand, and paper demand is driving real costs.”
The manufacturers’ study and legislative proposal, released at a news conference last week, come against the backdrop of surging electric capacity prices across PJM’s 13-state territory in the Midwest and mid-Atlantic regions and uncertainty over how much power demand will ultimately materialize.
