Ohio Electricity Rates: What You're Paying vs. What's Available

A homeowner in Columbus opens her electric bill, sees the total, and pays it. She has done this every month for years. What she has never noticed is the small line labeled "Price to Compare" near the middle of the page. That number is the key to understanding whether she is getting a good deal or simply paying whatever her utility decides to charge.

Ohio is one of a handful of states where electricity is fully deregulated on the supply side. That means the utility still delivers power to your home, reads your meter, and handles outages, but you get to choose who actually generates and sells you the electricity. Most residents have never made that choice. They sit on their utility's default supply, called the Standard Service Offer (SSO), and let it ride.

This post breaks down what Ohio's default rates look like right now, how they compare to what competitive suppliers offer, and what steps actually move the needle on a monthly bill.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) oversees the state's electric utilities and the competitive retail market. Under Ohio's deregulation framework, the utilities handle poles, wires, and delivery. A separate class of businesses, called Competitive Retail Electric Service (CRES) providers, compete to supply the actual electricity.

Every Ohio utility is required to publish a Price to Compare on customer bills. That number reflects the cost of the utility's Standard Service Offer in cents per kilowatt-hour. If a competitive supplier can beat that number, switching could lower the supply portion of your bill. If they can't, staying put makes sense.

Shopping is free and carries no risk to your delivery service. Your utility still responds to outages, still reads your meter, and still sends the bill. The only thing that changes is the supply rate and who sets it.

Ohio is served by six major electric utilities, each with its own service territory and its own Standard Service Offer rate. Here is where each stands as of July 2026:

AEP Ohio: ~10.7 cents/kWh
Duke Energy Ohio: ~10.1 cents/kWh
Toledo Edison: ~9.7 cents/kWh
The Illuminating Company: ~9.5 cents/kWh
AES Ohio: ~9.4 cents/kWh
Ohio Edison: ~9.3 cents/kWh

Customers in AEP Ohio territory are paying the highest default supply rate in the state. AEP Ohio serves a large portion of central and southern Ohio, so a meaningful share of Ohioans are on that 10.7 cent rate right now.

These figures represent only the supply portion of the bill. Delivery charges, distribution riders, and any applicable taxes are separate and remain constant regardless of which supplier you choose. For live, up-to-date rate comparisons across all six utilities, visit ElectricRates.org's Ohio page.

As of July 2026, the lowest competitive supplier rate available in Ohio sits at approximately 7.6 cents/kWh. That rate varies by utility territory and is not available everywhere in the state simultaneously, but it illustrates the range of what's out there.

For a household using 1,000 kWh per month, the difference between an AEP Ohio default rate of 10.7 cents and a competitive rate of 7.6 cents is roughly 3.1 cents per kilowatt-hour on the supply portion. That math is straightforward and significant.

Not every competitive offer is fixed-rate. Some suppliers offer variable rates that float with market conditions, introductory pricing that adjusts after a set period, or green energy products that source power from renewable generation. Reading the contract terms carefully before enrolling matters as much as reading the rate itself.

The PUCO maintains a consumer comparison tool called Energy Choice Ohio, often referred to as the "Apples to Apples" comparison. It lists available competitive suppliers for each utility territory, along with their current rates, contract lengths, cancellation fees, and product types.

To use it, you need to know your utility (the company that delivers your power) and your general usage tier. The tool is designed to make rate comparisons straightforward, though reading the fine print on each offer still falls to the consumer.

A few things to look for when comparing offers:

Fixed vs. variable rate. A fixed rate locks in your supply cost for the contract term. A variable rate can go up or down.

Contract length. Shorter contracts give more flexibility. Longer contracts may offer a lower rate but could include early termination fees.

Cancellation fees. Some offers charge a flat fee or a per-month penalty if you exit early. Others are month-to-month with no penalty.

Renewable content. Some Ohioans prioritize sourcing from wind or solar. Suppliers are required to disclose the generation mix of their product.

For a faster side-by-side view, ElectricRates.org's Ohio rate comparison pulls current competitive offers alongside each utility's Price to Compare so you can see the gap at a glance.

Enrollment with a competitive supplier typically takes a few minutes online or by phone. The supplier notifies your utility, and the switch takes effect on your next scheduled meter read, usually within one billing cycle.

Your utility continues to deliver power and handle everything physical. The bill may come from the utility or directly from the supplier depending on the arrangement, but the process is designed to be low-friction.

If you ever want to go back to the Standard Service Offer, you can. PUCO rules give customers the right to return to default supply. There may be a brief waiting period, but no permanent lock-in exists under state rules.

One practical note: if you move within Ohio, your new address may fall in a different utility territory. That means checking rates again, because both the default rate and available competitive offers differ by territory.

Shopping for a competitive rate is one tool, but it is not the only way to reduce an electric bill. Ohio has two major low-income assistance programs worth knowing about.

PIPP (Percentage of Income Payment Plan) is a state program that caps electric and gas bills at a percentage of household income for eligible low-income customers. It is administered through the utilities under PUCO oversight.

HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program) provides one-time or seasonal energy assistance to qualifying households. Eligibility and benefit amounts are tied to income and household size.

Eligibility requirements, application windows, and benefit levels for both programs can change. The Ohio Development Services Agency administers HEAP, and PUCO maintains information on PIPP. Checking directly with those agencies or contacting your utility's customer service line gives the most current picture.

The default rate is not a penalty. It is simply the rate a customer gets when no active choice has been made. But with the spread between Ohio's highest default supply rate and available competitive rates at more than 3 cents per kilowatt-hour as of July 2026, the cost of inertia is real.

A straightforward approach: pull out a recent electric bill, find the Price to Compare line, and run that number against what's available through Energy Choice Ohio or ElectricRates.org. If the competitive offers in your territory beat your Price to Compare and the contract terms are acceptable, the case for switching is simple arithmetic.

If they don't beat it right now, checking again in three to six months makes sense. Wholesale energy markets move, supplier pricing changes, and utility default rates adjust on their own schedules. The comparison takes a few minutes and costs nothing.