Time-of-Use Electricity Plans in Ohio (2026)
AEP Ohio, Duke, AES Ohio, and the FirstEnergy companies offer 179 time-of-use tariffs between them. Here's when peak hours hit and whose homes actually save money on TOU.
If I switched to TOU in Ohio, when are peak hours?
Across the 6Ohio utilities offering time-of-use plans, peak windows fall on weekday afternoons — most schedules concentrate peak pricing between roughly 2pm and 7pm, with off-peak running overnight and on weekends. There are 179 current TOU tariffs on file in the URDB. The exact peak window varies by utility; see each utility's heatmap below.
Time-of-use electricity in Ohio
Ohio investor-owned utilities have been offering time-of-use rate schedules for decades. URDB documents 179 current TOU tariffs across AEP Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio, AES Ohio, Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison, and Cleveland Electric Illuminating — by far the broadest TOU footprint of any state we serve. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) approves each utility's TOU rate design as part of its electric security plan.
Is time-of-use worth it in Ohio?
In Ohio, the largest residential TOU savings opportunities come from EV-owning households charging overnight on a TOU-EV tariff, and from households with solar plus battery storage that can self-supply during peak hours. Off-peak overnight rates can run 30-50% below the standard residential rate.
The honest answer for most households is: it depends on how much of your usage you can move. Time-of-use plans are a swap — you accept a higher rate during peak hours in exchange for a lower rate during off-peak hours. If your home runs heaviest during peak hours and you can't shift it, you'll lose money. If you can shift even 30-40% of your usage into off-peak windows, you'll usually come out ahead.
Good candidates for TOU
- EV owners who charge overnight
- Households with battery storage
- Remote workers with flexible schedules
- Pool/spa pumps on timers
- Smart thermostats with pre-cooling
Poor candidates for TOU
- All-day occupied homes (retirees, families with young kids)
- Older A/C systems that run constantly in summer
- Resistive electric heat in winter
- Households without smart appliances or schedule flexibility
Run the math first. Look at your last 12 months of usage hour-by-hour if you have a smart meter, or estimate the percentage of your usage that already falls in off-peak hours. If less than 50% is off-peak, TOU probably costs you money. Our Bill Grade tool evaluates this for free.
Ohio utilities with time-of-use plans
Each utility's count of currently filed TOU tariffs in URDB. Click through to the utility page for full plan details and live rates.
| Utility | TOU plans | Fixed $/mo | Default ¢/kWh | Tariff source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AEP Ohio | 29 | $8.40 | 12.6¢ | Tariff PDF |
| Duke Energy Ohio | 68 | $6.00 | 11.9¢ | Tariff PDF |
| AES Ohio (Dayton Power & Light) | 15 | $6.00 | 13.1¢ | Tariff PDF |
| Ohio Edison | 16 | $4.00 | 12.4¢ | Tariff PDF |
| Toledo Edison | 16 | $4.00 | 12.2¢ | Tariff PDF |
| Cleveland Electric Illuminating | 35 | $4.00 | 12.5¢ | Tariff PDF |
When does peak time hit on each Ohio utility?
Below: each utility's most recently filed TOU schedule, rendered as a 7-day × 24-hour heatmap. Colored cells mark the peak hours you pay the most for. Data sourced directly from each utility's filed tariff via NREL URDB.
Why peak hours exist on Ohio's grid
Ohio is part of the PJM Interconnection. Summer peaks dominate, but winter cold snaps can also produce expensive hours. Peak periods on most Ohio TOU schedules are weekdays from roughly 2pm to 7pm; off-peak runs evening through morning.
TOU rates exist because wholesale electricity costs vary hour by hour. The retail price most households pay is a blended average across the entire month — cheap and expensive hours mixed together. A TOU rate unblends them: you pay closer to the actual hourly cost. That's good news if your usage skews to cheap hours, bad news if it skews to expensive ones.
Run your own TOU savings estimate
Plug your monthly usage and your typical schedule into our TOU visualizer to see if a time-of-use plan would have saved you money over the past year. The tool pulls real peak-hour schedules from your utility's URDB-filed tariff.
Frequently asked questions
What is a time-of-use electricity plan in Ohio?
A time-of-use plan charges different per-kWh rates depending on when you use power. The Ohio EDU or competitive supplier defines peak and off-peak windows in the tariff filed with PUCO. On most Ohio TOU schedules, peak runs weekday afternoons from roughly 2pm to 7pm, when summer cooling and winter heating loads strain the grid. Off-peak — overnight, early morning, and weekends — costs 30 to 50 percent less per kWh. The catch is that peak rates can run double or triple the flat residential rate, so households that cannot shift usage end up paying more than they would on the Standard Service Offer.
Who benefits most from a time-of-use plan in Ohio?
EV owners who charge overnight see the largest savings on Ohio TOU. A Level 2 charger pulling 7.2 kW for six hours overnight at an off-peak rate near 6 cents per kWh costs roughly $2.60 for a full charge, versus more than $5 at typical peak rates. Households with battery storage that discharge during peak and recharge overnight come next. Heat pump owners save in shoulder seasons when the unit can pre-cool or pre-heat the house before peak. People who run the dishwasher and laundry after 7pm benefit modestly. Families home all day with central air running during peak typically lose money on TOU.
How do I know if my Ohio utility offers a time-of-use plan?
All six Ohio investor-owned EDUs — AEP Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio, AES Ohio, Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison, and Cleveland Illuminating — file residential TOU tariffs with PUCO. The URDB lists 179 active Ohio TOU rates across utility default service and competitive suppliers. The PUCO Apples-to-Apples site at energychoice.ohio.gov flags certified suppliers offering TOU products. Your EDU may also list TOU pilots and EV-only rates on its own residential rate page. Enrollment usually requires a smart meter, which all six Ohio EDUs have now deployed across most of their territory.
What appliances should I shift to off-peak hours on an Ohio TOU plan?
Concentrate on the highest-watt, time-flexible loads. EV charging is the single biggest mover — a full overnight charge represents 30 to 60 kWh of usage you can completely shift off peak. Clothes dryers pull 3,000 to 5,000 watts and run an hour at a time. Dishwashers can be loaded after dinner and started on a delay timer for after 7pm. Pool pumps should run overnight, not during the day. Electric water heaters can be timed to recover overnight. Central air is the load you cannot easily shift; pre-cooling the house before 2pm helps a little but you will still pay peak rates if the AC runs after 2pm.