Ohio Manufacturers Fear Data Center Energy Needs Are Misunderstood

The Ohio Manufacturers' Association (OMA) is raising concerns about the accuracy of data center energy demand forecasts and the negative effect an overestimation of those demands could have on the market.

"Driving up customer costs in the form of increased generation and transmission is a real problem right now," OMA President Ryan Augsburger told a Columbus ballroom full of the state's manufacturers Thursday, Aug. 27. "And our contention is that until meaningful transparency and accountability is applied to forecasting processes, customers will see no relief."

Much of the OMA's annual energy conference touched on forecasting, while concerns abound about how Ohio's energy regulators will contend with a booming data center market — chock-full of confirmed and prospective projects alike — that will impact how much electricity needs to produced and transmitted across the state.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Columbus Dispatch.