Massive increase in Ohio electric grid reliability projects
Ohio’s spending on electric-grid reliability projects surged from about $64 million in 2023 to $2.71 billion in 2025, coinciding with rapid data center growth and rising electricity demand. Energy experts and regulators are debating whether data centers should bear more of the cost or whether transmission upgrades should be paid by all ratepayers.
Ohio’s baseline electric-transmission reliability spending increased dramatically between 2023 and 2025, according to PJM infrastructure reports. The surge coincides with the state’s data center boom, driven in part by artificial intelligence, though PJM says its projects respond to broader reliability needs, including power-plant retirements and changing power flows rather than any single customer or industry.
Ohio energy officials and experts agreed that grid upgrades are increasingly necessary as electricity demand rises, but warned against excessive construction costs being shifted to consumers. FirstEnergy reported improved outage performance after more than $2 billion in Ohio grid investments, while advocates and regulators continued to debate whether large-load data center customers should directly pay for infrastructure they help necessitate.