Energy demand continues to be a growing issue in Ohio

State senators have plenty of work to do — for their constituents, they must remember — and among those tasks is understanding Ohio's energy landscape and the demands we are placing on our power grid. Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chair Jenifer French spoke to the body recently about the benefits of shorter regulatory timelines, noting that last year the commission signed off on 2,000 megawatts of behind-the-meter power (standalone power serving a facility) and 2,755 megawatts of traditional gas-generating facilities. She told the committee, "This is more gas-fired generation that has been applied to be sited or has been sited in Ohio than in the past 20 years," according to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal. But it's not just fossil fuels making an impact. Four utility solar projects for a little less than 700 megawatts were approved, too. According to French, that places Ohio 12th in the country for installed solar capacity. But it brings up an interesting question, because a representative of PJM Interconnection told lawmakers "historic growth in demand — growth like we haven't seen since the Industrial Revolution" is the result of "the proliferation of data centers." Fossil fuel industry operatives have no problem drumming up local opposition to solar facilities. In fact, Ohio law has made it so easy to stop a solar project that public opposition alone is enough. That is not the case for traditional energy projects. At the same time, data centers in many communities are meeting plenty of public opposition, but being built on land there, anyway. Drive through farmland and see signs that say "NO INDUSTRIAL SOLAR" or something to that effect, and you can count on that political opposition carrying weight with government officials and permitting bodies. Drive past a crowd carrying signs that say "No Data Centers!" and know there is no legal reason anyone should listen. Why? What makes lawmakers think politicians and bureaucrats know best to make decisions about land use for one purpose, but ordinary citizens know best whether to use the land for another purpose? It's a question worth considering as Ohio MUST employ an all-of-the-above approach to increasing energy production, especially if we are welcoming such energy-hungry facilities with open arms.