Competitive Power Generators Applaud House Passage of Bipartisan Load Forecasting Enhancement Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | September 15, 2026
CONTACT: Christina Nyquist | 603.930.8818 | cnyquist@epsa.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With data centers expected to drive significant new electricity demand but growing uncertainty over how much of, where, and when that demand will materialize, EPSA President and CEO Todd Snitchler said today’s House passage of the bipartisan Load Forecasting Enhancement Act (H.R. 9332), introduced by Ohio Congressman Troy Balderson, is an important step toward improving grid planning and protecting ratepayers from unnecessary costs.
Statement from Todd Snitchler, President and CEO, EPSA:
“America will need more power, but there is still considerable uncertainty about exactly how much, where, and when. With ratepayer protection front and center, getting the forecast right is essential to protecting consumers and building the power supply America actually needs. Better forecasting can help separate true demand from speculative or duplicative requests, give investors clearer signals about where new resources are needed, and reduce the risk of building costly infrastructure around demand that never materializes.
Competitive power markets provide another important safeguard for consumers. Competitive generators put private capital at risk, meaning investors—not captive customers—bear the risk if those investments don’t pay off. That market discipline helps guard against unnecessary overbuilding while directing investment toward the resources the grid actually needs. Amid discussions about the future of power markets and utility calls to own and rate-base generation, that distinction must be taken seriously.
We commend Congressman Balderson and the bipartisan supporters of the Load Forecasting Enhancement Act for advancing commonsense improvements that can bring greater accuracy, transparency, and accountability to how future electricity demand is projected. House passage is an important step, and we encourage the Senate to act on this legislation.”
Load Forecast Uncertainty
Recent data illustrate both sides of the challenge. Goldman Sachs Research projects U.S. data center power demand could more than double from 31 gigawatts in 2025 to 66 gigawatts in 2027, while estimating that only about 50–60% – roughly half – of data center capacity scheduled over the next one to two years will actually come online on time amid delays and cancellations. An investor-owned utility in Ohio initially faced more than 30 GW of prospective data-center demand, but after customers were required to make increasingly firm financial commitments, roughly 13 GW proceeded to engineering studies, and just 5.6 GW of that group ultimately signed binding service agreements—illustrating how dramatically projected demand can change as projects move from expressions of interest to financially committed load. The significant adjustment demonstrates how assumptions about proposed large loads can affect expectations for how much new electricity infrastructure will be needed.
Competitive Power Market Response to Rising Energy Demand
As the U.S. power system and competitive power markets adjust to a new era of demand growth, competitive power suppliers are responding to market signals with billions of dollars in private investment—building new generation and storage, expanding existing facilities, and finding innovative ways to get more power from infrastructure already on the grid. In the PJM footprint alone, competitive generators have announced more than 43 GW of potential new power supply since mid-2024.
Reducing regulatory and market uncertainty, addressing supply chain constraints, and removing barriers to building new resources through permitting reform and other policies that facilitate development will be essential to bringing new power online faster, without shifting the risk of long-term investments that may ultimately prove unnecessary onto captive ratepayers. Better forecasts, clearer market signals, and policies that enable private investment can help meet rising electricity demand while preserving the reliability, cost discipline, and consumer protections of competitive power markets.
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The Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA) is the national trade association representing America’s competitive power suppliers. EPSA members provide more than 225,000 MW of reliable and competitively priced electricity from environmentally responsible facilities using a diverse mix of fuels and technologies including natural gas, wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, storage, biomass, and coal. EPSA seeks to bring the benefits of competition to all power customers. Learn more at www.epsa.org and connect with us on LinkedIn and X @EPSAnews.
