As Introduced

136th General Assembly

Regular Session S. B. No. 457

2025-2026

Senators Romanchuk, Hicks-Hudson

To amend section 4935.04 of the Revised Code to amend the requirements for long-term forecast reports and to name the act the Electricity Forecast Integrity Act.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That section 4935.04 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 4935.04. (A) As used in this chapter:

(1) "Major utility facility" means:

(a) An electric transmission line and associated facilities of a design capacity of one hundred twenty-five sixty kilovolts or more;

(b) A gas or natural gas transmission line and associated facilities designed for, or capable of, transporting gas or natural gas at pressures in excess of one hundred twenty-five pounds per square inch.

"Major utility facility" does not include electric, gas, or natural gas distributing lines and gas or natural gas gathering lines and associated facilities as defined by the public utilities commission; facilities owned or operated by industrial firms, persons, or institutions that produce or transmit gas or natural gas, or electricity primarily for their own use or as a byproduct of their operations; gas or natural gas transmission lines and associated facilities over which an agency of the United States has certificate jurisdiction; facilities owned or operated by a person furnishing gas or natural gas directly to fifteen thousand or fewer customers within this state.

(2) "Person" has the meaning set forth in section 4906.01 of the Revised Code.

(3) "Advanced transmission technologies" has the same meaning as in section 4906.01 of the Revised Code.

(4) "Electric light company" has the same meaning as in section 4905.03 of the Revised Code;

(5) "Summer" means the period of time that begins on the first day of June and ends on the thirtieth day of September.

(6) "Winter" means the period of time that begins on the first day of December and ends on the thirty-first day of March.

(B) Each person owning or operating a gas or natural gas transmission line and associated facilities within this state over which an agency of the United States has certificate jurisdiction shall furnish to the commission a copy of the energy information filed by the person with that agency of the United States.

(C) Each person owning or operating a major utility facility within this state, or furnishing gas, natural gas, or electricity directly to more than fifteen thousand customers within this state shall furnish file a report to with the commission for its review and approval. The report shall be furnished filed annually, except that for a gas or natural gas company the report shall be furnished filed every three years. The report shall be termed the long-term forecast report and shall contain:

(1) A year-by-year, ten-year forecast by rate class of annual energy demand, coincident peak load, coincident peak load for both summer and winter, large load additions, reserves, load factor, and a general description of the resource planning projections to meet demandcoincident peak load;

(2) A range of projected loads during the each annual period, including high and low scenarios;

(3) Actual historical data by rate class for annual energy demand, coincident peak load, coincident peak load for both summer and winter, large load additions, load factor, and reserves that occurred by year for the prior five consecutive years;

(4) The date and time of the summer and winter coincident peak loads and coincident peak load by rate class that occurred by year from the prior five consecutive years;

(5) A description of major utility facilities planned to be added or taken out of service in the next ten years, including, to the extent the information is available, prospective sites for transmission line locations;

(4)(6) For gas and natural gas, a projection of anticipated supply, supply prices, and sources of supply over the forecast period;

(5)(7) A description of proposed changes in the transmission system planned for the next five years;

(6)(8) A month-by-month forecast of both energy demand and peak load for electric utilitieslight companies, and gas sendout for gas and natural gas utilitiescompanies, for the next two five years. The report shall describe the major utility facilities that, in the judgment of such person, will be required to supply system demands coincident peak load during the forecast period. The report from a gas or natural gas utility company shall cover the ten- and five-year periods next succeeding the date of the report, and the report from an electric utility light company shall cover the twenty-, ten-, and five-year periods next succeeding the date of the report. Each report shall be made available to the public and furnished upon request to municipal corporations and governmental agencies charged with the duty of protecting the environment or of planning land use. The report shall be in such form and shall contain such information as may be prescribed by the commission.

Each person not owning or operating a major utility facility within this state and serving fifteen thousand or fewer gas or natural gas, or electric customers within this state shall furnish file such information as the commission requires.

(7)(9) For electric transmission, a person shall include an evaluation and report of the potential use of, or investment in, one or more advanced transmission technologies to enable the electric utility light company to safely, reliably, efficiently, and cost-effectively meet electric system demand through its major utility facilities.

The report shall identify which advanced transmission technologies were considered as a part of the review of the major utility facilities for the next five years. A person shall also include a cost evaluation comparing costs of traditional transmission investments and costs of advanced transmission technologies for the projects considered on the major utility facilities applied individually, together, or in sequence. The report shall also include an advanced transmission technology congestion mitigation study to cost-effectively maximize the delivery of energy resources in the near term that:

(a) Identifies locations on the entity's transmission system where congestion has occurred for a total of fifty hours per year or more during the last three years or is likely to occur during the next five years, including due to planned transmission outages or other factors;

(b) Estimates the frequency of congestion at each location and the increased cost to ratepayers resulting from the substitution of higher-priced electricity;

(c) Evaluates the technical feasibility and estimates the cost of installing one or more advanced transmission technologies to address each instance of grid congestion identified in division (C)(7)(a)(C)(9)(a) of this section and projects the grid-enhancing technology's efficacy in reducing congestion;

(d) Analyzes the cost-effectiveness of installing grid-enhancing technologies to address each instance of congestion identified in division (C)(7)(a)(C)(9)(a) of this section by using the information developed in division (C)(7)(c)(C)(9)(c) of this section to calculate the payback period of each installation, using a methodology developed by the commission;

(e) Proposes an implementation plan, including a schedule and cost estimate, to install grid-enhancing technologies at each congestion point at which the payback period is less than or equal to a value determined by the commission, in order to maximize transmission system capacity, and explains the entity's current line rating methodology.

(10) A report of all electric generation and energy storage interconnection requests within the area served by the transmission system within the state, including all generation and electricity storage types that have requested approval from the power siting board, all community energy projects requesting interconnection to the electric light company, and all behind-the-meter electric generation and storage projects that have requested interconnection with the electric light company.

(11) A report of the status of customer interconnection requests for all customers requesting at least fifty megawatts in electric service within the previous five years, which must contain the following:

(a) The date of the interconnection request;

(b) The requested electrical service expressed in megawatts;

(c) If the customer is receiving, or has received, an engineering study, conducted by the electric light company or an electrical transmission company, and if so, then the dates of initiating and completion of the engineering study;

(d) If the customer has withdrawn their interconnection request, and if so, the date of the withdrawal;

(e) If the customer has signed a letter of agreement, and if so, the date the letter was signed and the requested electrical service in the letter expressed in megawatts;

(f) If the customer has a signed electric service agreement, and if so, the date the agreement was signed and the requested electrical service expressed in megawatts;

(g) If the customer has energized, and if so, the measured coincident peak power use of the customer for its transmission zone and electric capacity expressed in megawatts.

(12)(a) A report of the forecast for large load additions;

(b) The report shall include the large load additions forecast and supporting information that the electric light company must submit to a regional transmission organization as part of the regional transmission organization's large load addition process.

(D) The commission shall:

(1) Review (1)(a) For electric light companies, do all of the following:

(i) Review and comment cause an investigation to be made by an independent third party of the facts set forth in the long-term forecast reports filed under division (C) of this section and the underlying data;

(ii) Require the independent third party to file a written report of investigation on the reports long-term forecast report filed under division (C) of this section, and ;

(iii) Require the independent third party to produce its own long-term forecast report for each electric light company, including a large load addition forecast.

(b) The written report of investigation and the long-term forecast required under divisions (D)(1)(a)(ii) and (iii) of this section shall be completed not later than ninety days after the long-term forecast required under division (C) of this section is filed.

(c) The commission shall fund the activities of the independent third party through the assessment established by section 4905.10 of the Revised Code and shall make the information contained in the reports readily available to the public and other interested government agencies;.

(2)(2)(a) For gas and natural gas utilities, review and cause an investigation to be made of the facts set forth in the long-term forecast report filed under division (C) of this section.

(b) The investigation shall be conducted by an independent third party. The commission shall fund the activities of the independent third party through the assessment established in section 4905.10 of the Revised Code.

(c) Within ninety days after a long-term forecast report is filed, a written report of investigation on the long-term forecast report filed under division (C) of this section shall be made and filed with the commission. The commission shall make the information contained in a report readily available to the public and other interested government agencies.

(3) Compile and publish each year the general locations of proposed and existing transmission line routes within its jurisdiction as identified in the reports filed under division (C) of this section, identifying the general location of such sites and routes and the approximate year when construction is expected to commence, and to make such information readily available to the public, to each newspaper of daily or weekly circulation within the area affected by the proposed site and route, and to interested federal, state, and local agencies;

(3)(4) Require all objections to any long-term forecast report filed under division (C) of this section or long-term forecast report filed under division (D)(1)(a)(iii) of this section to be made by any interested party within thirty days after the filing of the long-term forecast report filed under division (D)(1)(a)(iii) of this section.

(5)(a) Hold a public hearing upon the showing of good cause to the commission by an interested partyon a long-term forecast report filed under division (C) of this section, long-term forecast report filed under division (D)(1)(a)(iii) of this section, and any objections filed under division (D)(4) of this section.

If a hearing is held, the (b) The commission shall fix a time for the hearing, which shall be not later than ninety one hundred eighty days after the long-term forecast report is filed under division (C) of this section, and publish notice of the date, time of day, and location of the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in each county in which the person furnishing the report has or intends to locate a major utility facility and will provide service during the period covered by the report. The notice shall be published not less than fifteen nor more than thirty days before the hearing and shall state the matters to be considered.

(4)(6) Require such information from persons subject to its jurisdiction as necessary to assist in the conduct of hearings and any investigation or studies it may undertake;

(5)(7) Conduct any studies or investigations that are necessary or appropriate to carry out its responsibilities under this section.

(6)(8) Review and evaluate that advanced transmission technologies were properly reported in accordance with division (C)(7)(C)(9) of this section and allow stakeholders to provide comments.

(7)(9) Approve advanced transmission technology congestion mitigation implementation plans, including cost recovery.

(E)(1) The scope of the hearing held under division (D)(3)(D)(5) of this section shall be limited to issues relating to forecasting. The power siting board, the office of consumers' counsel, and all other persons having an interest in the proceedings shall be afforded the opportunity to be heard and to be represented by counsel. The commission may adjourn the hearing from time to time.

(2) The hearing shall include, but not be limited to, a review of:

(a) The projected loads and energy requirements for each year of the period;

(b) The estimated installed capacity and supplies to meet the projected load requirements;

(c) The long-term forecast report filed pursuant to division (C) of this section;

(d) The long-term forecast report filed under division (D)(1)(a)(iii) of this section;

(e) Objections filed pursuant to division (D) of this section.

(F)(F)(1) Based upon the long-term forecast report furnished filed pursuant to division (C) of this section, the written report of investigation filed pursuant to division (D) of this section, and the hearing record, the commission, within ninety days from the close of the record in the hearing, shall determine select and adopt, from either the long-term forecast report filed under division (C) of this section or the long-term forecast report filed under division (D)(1)(a)(iii) of this section, the long-term forecast report that is just and reasonable and the most accurate, if the selected report does all of the following:

(1) All (a) Completely and accurately represents all information relating to current activities, facilities agreements, and published energy policies of the state has been completely and accurately represented;

(2) The (b) Bases the load requirements are based on substantially accurate historical information and adequate methodology;

(3) The (c) Utilizes forecasting methods that consider the relationships between price and energy consumption;

(4) The report (d) Completely and accurately identifies and projects reductions in energy, energy demands, and coincident peak load due to energy conservation, peak load management programs, interruptible tariffs, demand response, customer-sited energy generation, customer-sited electricity storage measures in the industrial, commercial, residential, transportation, and energy production sectors in the service area, and the energy demand reductions due to electric light company volt-var optimization;

(5) Utility company (e) Completely and accurately identifies and projects large load additions, including whether additions to energy, demand, and coincident peak load forecasts are based on contractual commitments for electric service with an electric light company for a specified location and whether the large load addition customers are considering other locations for electric load;

(f) Includes forecasts of loads and resources that are reasonable in relation to population growth estimates made by state and federal agencies, transportation, and economic development plans and forecasts, and make recommendations where possible for necessary and reasonable alternatives to meet forecasted electric power demand;

(6) The report (g) Completely and accurately considers plans for expansion of the regional power grid and the planned facilities of other utilities in the state;

(7) All (h) Includes assumptions made in the forecast long-term forecast that are reasonable and adequately documented.

(2) If the commission finds that both the long-term forecast report filed under division (C) and the long-term forecast report filed under division (D)(1)(a)(iii) of this section fail to satisfy one or more items listed under division (F)(1) of this section, the commission shall deny approval of the filed long-term forecast report and cause the utility to refile an amended report that complies with division (F)(1) of this section. If the commission determines that a long-term forecast report is inaccurate and unreasonable for two consecutive years, the commission shall assess forfeitures on the entity filing the long-term forecast report under division (C) of this section.

(3) For electric light companies, if the commission finds that the adopted long-term forecast report is just and reasonable and satisfies the items listed under division (F)(1) of this section, the commission shall authorize the electric light company to submit the adopted long-term forecast report to the regional transmission organization, including the submittal of the adopted large load addition report as part of the regional transmission organization's large load addition process.

(G) The commission shall adopt rules under section 111.15 of the Revised Code to establish criteria for evaluating the long-term forecasts of needs for gas and electric transmission service, to conduct hearings held under this section, to establish reasonable fees to defray the direct cost of the hearings and the review process, and such other rules as are necessary and convenient to implement this section.

(H) The hearing record produced under this section and the determinations of the commission shall be introduced into evidence and shall be considered in determining the basis of need for power siting board deliberations under division (A)(1) of section 4906.10 of the Revised Code. The hearing record produced under this section shall be introduced into evidence and shall be considered by the commission in its initiation of programs, examinations, and findings under section 4905.70 of the Revised Code, and shall be considered in the commission's determinations examinations, and findings under section 4905.70 of the Revised Code, and shall be considered in the commission's determinations with respect to the establishment of just and reasonable rates under section 4909.15 of the Revised Code and financing utility facilities and authorizing issuance of all securities under sections 4905.40, 4905.401, 4905.41, and 4905.42 of the Revised Code. The forecast findings also shall serve as the basis for all other energy planning and development activities of the state government where electric and gas data are required.

(I)(1) No court other than the supreme court shall have power to review, suspend, or delay any determination made by the commission under this section, or enjoin, restrain, or interfere with the commission in the performance of official duties. A writ of mandamus shall not be issued against the commission by any court other than the supreme court.

(2) A final determination made by the commission shall be reversed, vacated, or modified by the supreme court on appeal, if, upon consideration of the record, such court is of the opinion that such determination was unreasonable or unlawful.

The proceeding to obtain such reversal, vacation, or modification shall be by notice of appeal, filed with the commission by any party to the proceeding before it, against the commission, setting forth the determination appealed from and errors complained of. The notice of appeal shall be served, unless waived, upon the commission by leaving a copy at the office of the chairperson of the commission at Columbus. The court may permit an interested party to intervene by cross-appeal.

(3) No proceeding to reverse, vacate, or modify a determination of the commission is commenced unless the notice of appeal is filed within sixty days after the date of the determination.

Section 2. That existing section 4935.04 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.

Section 3. Section 4935.04 of the Revised Code, as amended by this act, shall be known as the Electricity Forecast Integrity Act.