COLUMBUS — As extreme cold grips large parts of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, manufacturers say the electric grid is expected to perform because reliability is exactly what customers already pay for through their electric bills, a standard Ohio’s manufacturers and all Ohioans depend on when conditions are toughest.
“There is no premium service tier,” said Ryan Augsburger, president of the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association. “Manufacturers pay for reliability every month. When the weather turns, the grid is supposed to show up. Reliability is the product.”
The statement comes as PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest power market, has issued a Cold Weather Alert encouraging utilities to defer maintenance and maximize generation and transmission availability during extreme conditions.
Manufacturers say extreme weather is not an exception but the moment the power system is designed to handle. High electric bills are routinely justified as the cost of reliability, yet failures during peak conditions continue to expose gaps between what customers are told they are paying for and what the system delivers.
“Cold weather is not a surprise. Winter happens every year,” Augsburger said. “If reliability is the justification for higher costs, that promise must hold when conditions are toughest. Anything less is a failure of performance and accountability.”
Manufacturers said grid reliability failures are not theoretical. When the system underperforms, the consequences show up immediately in lost production, operational disruptions and higher costs that ripple through national supply chains.
“Manufacturers do not get a pass when conditions are difficult,” Augsburger said. “The grid should be held to the same standard. Extreme weather is when reliability matters most.”