No. 01
Power Ohio Now
The thesis
Ohio can either fall behind — or build the cheapest, most reliable power system in the Midwest.
Don't ban data centers. Make them bring new power with them — then share the surplus with Ohio homes, businesses, and communities.
Ban
growth.
Investment, jobs, and grid funding move to other states.
Build
power.
Anchor SMRs, gas, solar, batteries on data-center demand.
§02 / Fork in the road
AI, cloud, and reshoring are arriving in Ohio whether the statehouse plans for it or not. Two paths — only one builds something.
Slows demand on paper. In practice, it pushes investment, jobs, tax base, and grid funding to other states.
Use data centers as anchor customers to finance SMRs, gas, grid upgrades, solar, and batteries — then share the surplus with Ohio homes, businesses, and communities.
That second path is the campaign.
§03 / By the numbers
The real question isn't can we stop demand?— it's can we make new demand pay for new supply?
“PJM forecasts net load growth averaging 5.3% per year over the next decade, reaching about 1.44 million GWh by 2036.”
— PJM Interconnection · 2026 Load Forecast
Ohio data centers operating today
Potential additional investment by 2030
PJM net load growth, per year, next decade
Planned Ohio projects requiring major generation
Proposed campus paired with new power generation
Ohio is the table.
Either we set it — or someone else does.
§04 / Demand vs. supply
PJM projects 5.3% annual load growth through the next decade. Existing Ohio supply is roughly flat. Every year the gap widens, wholesale prices climb.
The widening gap is the price-pressure zone. Every gigawatt of unmet demand is a cost passed to Ohio ratepayers.
Indexed view. Demand line tracks PJM 5.3% CAGR. Supply line illustrates roughly flat capacity. Directional, not utility-grade. See methodology in sources.
§05 / Wait — what?
This is the hidden insight. Data-center demand is exactly the anchor load that finances the kind of generation Ohio needs anyway.
Medium data center
20MW
Small modular reactor · 24/7 baseload
300MW
Capacity ratio
15×
Surplus
280MW
Households served
~200K
Anchor the reactor on the data center. Share the surplus.
§06 / Ohio Energy Growth Compact
Five rules that turn data-center demand into Ohio's next energy buildout.
Large data centers must contract for or help finance new generation equal to their load. No new megawatt of demand without a new megawatt of supply.
Large-load customers cover the transmission, substation, and reliability costs they create. Ratepayers don't subsidize hyperscaler infrastructure.
When new generation exceeds data-center demand, excess capacity is made available to Ohio homes, businesses, municipalities, and manufacturers at below-market rates.
No single-source fantasy. Ohio needs SMRs, natural gas, solar, wind, batteries, and transmission — together, not in opposition.
Water use, noise, land use, emergency planning, and tax agreements are transparent and negotiated locally. Growth has to feel like growth on the ground.
The rule that ties them together
No large data center connects unless it helps bring new power online.
§07 / Energy stack
Ohio needs SMRs, natural gas, solar, wind, batteries, and transmission — not a single-source fantasy.
Small modular reactors are the long-term foundation. A 300 MW SMR could power a 20 MW data center while serving tens of thousands of homes, factories, and a regional energy district.
→ One SMR anchors an entire energy district.
Natural gas is the fastest scalable bridge. Recent plans describe 9.2 GW of gas generation paired with data-center development, with excess capacity feeding the grid to lower costs.
→ Data centers should add power, not just take from the grid.
Solar is excellent for reducing daytime peak costs, pairing with batteries, and lowering wholesale energy costs. Cincinnati's 100 MW New Market Solar already supplies city and residential programs.
→ Solar should be part of the stack, not the entire stack.
Batteries don't create energy — they move it to where and when it's needed. They reduce peak-price spikes, stabilize the grid, store solar and wind, and protect against outages.
→ For the modern grid, batteries are increasingly essential.
Generation is only half the story. Ohio needs new substations, high-voltage transmission, dedicated corridors, better interconnection planning, and faster permitting.
→ No power without wires.
§08 / Momentum
The decisions are being made right now — in PJM filings, utility commissions, and back rooms with site-selection consultants.
The only question is whether Ohio benefits.
Hyperscaler-class projects are scoping Ohio sites paired directly with new generation, not just grid offtake.
Large-load tariffs, minimum demand charges, and new interconnection rules are already being filed across PJM.
PJM's 2026 load forecast lifted decade-out demand by tens of percent — the largest revision in years.
Supply does.
Data centers can finance
Scale of investment
AWS alone has committed $23B+ in Ohio data centers by 2029.
A medium data center needs 20–30 MW continuously. Large AI campuses can require hundreds of megawatts — or gigawatts.
That demand can strain the grid — or finance the future of Ohio energy.
Bring jobs. Bring investment. Bring compute.
But bring power with you.
§10 / The close
Ohio can either buy it…
or build it.
Let's build it.
01
New data centers should mean new power.
02
New power should mean lower costs.
03
Lower costs should mean a stronger Ohio.
§11 / Add your name
No money. No party. Just a clear position: new demand on the grid should bring new power with it — and Ohio should benefit first.
Stand for new power.
§12 / Sources
All data, forecasts, and economic figures come from public reports, utility filings, and government documents.
Methodology
Energy capacity, cost, and infrastructure figures are based on publicly available data, industry benchmarks, and projected development scenarios. Actual outcomes depend on regulatory approvals, market conditions, technology deployment, and project execution.
