Lawmakers want data centers to have separate utility rate
Ohio House Democrats are urging Gov. Mike DeWine to establish a separate statewide utility rate for large data centers. They argue this is necessary to prevent residential customers from bearing the costs of increased power generation capacity required by data centers, citing an upcoming power auction by PJM Interconnection. The call to action is prompted by concerns that current practices could shift these additional electricity costs onto everyday ratepayers.
Ohio House Democrats have urged Governor Mike DeWine to take immediate action to establish a distinct statewide utility rate for large data centers. On Tuesday, legislators expressed concerns that without such a measure, residential customers could face higher electricity bills due to the increased power demands of data centers. They highlighted an upcoming auction by PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator, where companies will bid to secure additional power generation capacity to prevent blackouts when demand is high.
Lawmakers stated in a letter to Governor DeWine that PJM has indicated that all Ohioans would incur higher rates for this additional power unless data centers pay a separate, dedicated rate. A PJM spokesman clarified that the organization lacks the authority to directly allocate costs to consumers but has requested that governors address the allocation of new data center loads.
The Democrats are pushing for the Governor to collaborate with the Ohio Public Utilities Commission to create a rate structure that ensures data centers bear the costs they impose on the state's electric grid, rather than shifting them to ordinary ratepayers. This call comes amidst reports that Ohio could host the world's largest data center, with a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy and Japan's SB Energy (part of the SoftBank Group) planning to build an "artificial intelligence data center" at the Portsmouth site near Piketon.