Manufacturing News
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026 · Statewide · Story 4 of 5
Husted's Ohio Roundtable Tackles the PJM Capacity Price Increase Behind Indiana's Power Costs
U.S. Sen. Jon Husted hosted a roundtable in Columbus with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, state regulators, and Ohio manufacturing leaders on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, Senate Bill 5653. The bill would cap environmental assessments at one year and full impact statements at two years, set a 150-day window for NEPA lawsuits, and require data centers drawing 20 megawatts or more to cover their own power costs. The bill was written by Sens.
U.S. Sen. Jon Husted hosted a roundtable in Columbus with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, state regulators, and Ohio manufacturing leaders on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, Senate Bill 5653. The bill would cap environmental assessments at one year and full impact statements at two years, set a 150-day window for NEPA lawsuits, and require data centers drawing 20 megawatts or more to cover their own power costs.
The bill was written by Sens. Capito, Lee, Heinrich, and Whitehouse, with Husted as a regional cosponsor, and it still has to reconcile with the House's SPEED Act, which passed without a Senate companion. The underlying driver is the PJM capacity price increase itself: PJM's Independent Market Monitor ties roughly $21.3 billion in elevated costs over three years to data center demand forecasts that never got built out, costs that land on every industrial ratepayer on the PJM grid, including Indiana manufacturers, regardless of where the data center sits.
For your morning huddle
- Q
If data-center cost-responsibility rules like the 20 MW threshold in S. 5653 become a federal floor, does that relieve or worsen the capacity-price pressure we're already seeing pass through on our PJM-connected accounts?
Check whether your facility sits on the PJM or MISO side of the grid. PJM-connected plants should expect this capacity price increase to show up in demand costs before any new supply comes online.
Briefing note
- Impact
- The bill's actual authors are Sens. Capito, Lee, Heinrich, and Whitehouse: Husted is a regional cosponsor, not the driver, and it's headed for a bicameral collision with the House's already-passed SPEED Act (221-196, no Senate companion), meaning the stricter NEPA deadlines could get watered down in reconciliation. The real driver is PJM's capacity price spike from data centers, which the Independent Market Monitor ties to $21.3 billion in elevated costs over three years from unbuilt load forecasts, costs that flow to every industrial ratepayer on the PJM grid, Indiana manufacturers included, regardless of where the data center sits.
- Watch
- A Senate floor vote on S. 5653 expected after lawmakers return from the October state work period, and whether Ohio's competing 'Conserve Ohio' ballot measure (a 25 MW hyperscale cap) creates a direct legal contradiction with the federal bill's acceleration goals.
Sources
- Husted hosts Ohio roundtable on federal permitting reform · wowo.com
From the brief, October 15, 2026
- Indiana Opens Applications for Advanced Nuclear Ready Communities Program
- Kratos Breaks Ground on Radar and Hypersonics Facilities in Odon
- SK Hynix Ties New U.S. NAND Fab to China Equipment Approval
- Husted's Ohio Roundtable Tackles the PJM Capacity Price Increase Behind Indiana's Power Costs
- LaGrange's Manufacturing Day Offers a Workforce Pipeline Lesson for Indiana
This story
Related
Manufacturers Energy Grant Program
Free for Indiana manufacturers
Manufacturers from qualifying Indiana counties receive a free monthly 35-point audit of their electric bills for cost recovery and savings. Every line item checked and validated, every opportunity found comes with a step-by-step guide to capture it.
EDCs: sponsor this program and it carries your organization's name For economic developers →