Pre-Conference Comments of Gregory J. Poulos, Consumer Advocates of the PJM States, Inc., at the 07/07/2026 Software Conference panel on Load Forecasting, under AD10-12.

Summary: Gregory J. Poulos, Executive Director of Consumer Advocates of the PJM States, Inc. (CAPS), supports the action to improve load forecasting software to ensure accurate and verifiable data center load projections. He argues that accurate forecasting is critical to preventing over-investment in capacity, which currently leads to significant cost increases for consumers in the PJM region.