Over the last 15 years, Ohio’s energy landscape has changed in ways many people have not connected. Eastern Ohio shale development made the state a major natural gas producer. At the same time, Ohio’s power system shifted away from heavy coal reliance toward natural gas and other resources that can respond more flexibly to demand.

For much of that period, upstream development felt like an eastern Ohio story, and grid planning felt like a utility story. That separation is ending.

Central Ohio’s growth, especially data centers and other large industrial loads, is turning electricity and gas supply into a statewide economic issue. Over the next five years, the defining story will be infrastructure: transmission upgrades; substations; distribution reinforcement; and the long lead times that come with building them.

When demand arrives faster than the grid can expand, developers will pursue near-term solutions. Expect more proposals for generation located close to large loads, more private power arrangements, and more hard questions about who pays for upgrades when projected load does not fully materialize.

Over the next 10 years, Ohio will enter a sustained build cycle. Siting, permitting, and constructing power facilities will become routine — and contested.

The practical question shifts from, “Can we serve this load?” to, “How do we serve it without destabilizing reliability, rates, and public trust?” Over 15 to 20 years, reliability planning will tilt toward extreme weather, winter performance, equipment procurement, and multievent contingencies. Natural gas will likely remain a central reliability tool, but the mix will lean harder on storage, demand response, and efficiency to manage peaks and improve resilience.

At 20 years and beyond, Ohio’s path depends on whether transmission can be built fast enough. If it can, a higher-renewables grid becomes more feasible. If it cannot, dispatchable generation near load will dominate by default, because reliability has to be delivered on schedule.

Ohio’s biggest risks are not a lack of resources. They are coordination failures.

First, cost-allocation fights can stall progress. Large loads require large upgrades. If households believe they are subsidizing private growth, backlash follows. If large customers can enter and exit without credible commitments, communities and utilities can be left holding the bill.

Second, local unpredictability becomes a hidden tax. Moratoriums, siting fights, and shifting rules raise project risk. That rarely stops development. It redirects it.

Third, infrastructure lead times are real. Substations, transformers, and high-voltage work take years. A state that assumes quick builds will be surprised by reality.

Finally, a quieter constraint persists on the upstream side: fractured mineral title. Generational severances and neglected estate planning create ownership disputes that slow leasing, delay projects, and increase legal costs. This is structural, not rare.

Ohio can turn this moment into durable advantage if it treats energy like economic infrastructure.

Start with a transparent large-load playbook so communities, developers, and regulators know the rules: commitments; timelines; upgrade responsibility; and exit consequences. Plan transmission and substations like highways, with multiyear growth corridors, not just patchwork fixes. Use natural gas strategically for reliability, while modernizing aggressively with storage and demand tools and maintaining public trust through disciplined oversight.

This approach requires shared lane assignments: the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio should set cost-allocation and large-load rules for utilities; the Ohio Power Siting Board should oversee siting of major generation and transmission; regional grid operator PJM’s planning should inform where backbone upgrades are needed. Finally, lawmakers should provide clear statutory guardrails, while local officials focus on land use, services, and community impacts.

Ohio will not be deciding whether demand will grow.

It will be deciding whether growth will be guided or constrained.

White, who writes from Millersburg, is the Executive Partner of EQUES® Law Group, where his practice includes real property, oil and gas, and related infrastructure matters. Among other clients, he also represents landowners and businesses impacted by energy development.

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