Apples to Apples Ohio: How to Read PUCO's Chart

What is apples to apples in Ohio?

Apples to Apples is PUCO's comparison tool for energy offers. It lists live offers from certified suppliers for one utility territory at a time, for electric and for natural gas. It lives on Energy Choice Ohio, PUCO's consumer site.

Apples to Apples chart. PUCO's side-by-side list of supplier offers for one utility territory, with each offer's rate, term and fees in the same columns.

PUCO describes the chart as a snapshot of current offers. It lists only certified suppliers that are actively enrolling new customers, shows offers in random order and says each supplier is responsible for the accuracy of its own offer (PUCO's chart notice). Ohio Energy Savings is not PUCO and does not run the chart. We explain it.

The companies on the chart are called CRES providers for electric and CRNGS providers for natural gas. Those are short for Competitive Retail Electric Service and Competitive Retail Natural Gas Service. Each one competes with your utility's default rate.

Which Apples to Apples chart do you need, electric or gas?

You need the chart for the fuel you want to shop and the utility named on that fuel's bill. Electric and gas have separate charts, and they differ in ways that change how you read them.

Open our guide to Apples to Apples electric for the six electric territories, or the guide to Apples to Apples Ohio gas for the four gas territories. Each one links to PUCO's chart for your utility.

What does each column on the Apples to Apples chart mean?

Every offer sits in one row. The columns below are the ones PUCO prints, in order. PUCO's glossary defines some of them. The notes on the rest are our plain reading of the column name, so check each offer's own terms.

• Supplier. The company making the offer, with its address and phone number. A row also links to the supplier's site, the offer details, its terms of service and its sign-up page.
• Rate ($/kWh, or $/Ccf or $/Mcf). The price of the energy itself. The chart prints it in dollars as a decimal. Compare it only with your default rate in the same unit.
• Rate Type. Fixed or variable. PUCO defines a fixed price as one that stays the same for a set time, and a variable price as one that can change, even by the hour or day, under the supplier's terms.
• Renew. Content. The share of the contracted supply that comes from renewable sources, as PUCO's glossary puts it.
• Intro. price. Whether the offer starts with an introductory rate. If it does, ask what the rate becomes afterward.
• Term. Length. How many months the offer runs.
• Early Term. Fee. What you may owe if you leave before the term ends. Some offers add a details link with the fee's wording, so read it.
• Monthly Fee. A fixed monthly fee in addition to the usage rate, as PUCO's glossary defines it.
• Promo. Offers. Whether the supplier lists a promotional offer. If it does, read the supplier's terms for the conditions.

The chart also has a Click to Compare column, where you can select offers to compare.

How do you filter the Apples to Apples chart?

Each chart on Energy Choice Ohio opens with the full list of offers for your territory. Filters narrow that list.

• Price range. Set a lowest and highest rate.
• Term length. Set a range in months, such as short contracts only.
• Early termination fee and monthly fee. Set a top limit for each, so a fee does not hide inside a low rate.
• Rate type. Show all offers, only fixed ones or only variable ones.
• Supplier. Show one company's offers.
• Renewable content. On the electric chart, pick a band, from 0 to 25 percent up to 76 to 100 percent. The gas chart has no such filter.
• My Current Rate. An optional box for the rate you pay now.

A filter on rate alone is the weak spot. Filter on fees and term as well, then check the result against your default rate.

How do you compare an offer with your default rate?

Start with your default rate and match the units. Then work out what a month costs under each side.

1. Find your default rate. On the electric chart, PUCO states the residential price to compare near the top, and your bill prints it too. On the gas chart, the box at the top gives the Standard Choice Offer or standard service offer.
2. Match the units. Electric charts print dollars per kWh, and the gas chart uses a Ccf or Mcf price, depending on the utility.
3. Multiply your monthly usage by each rate. Your past bills show your usage, and a full year is best because winter and summer differ.
4. Add the offer's monthly fee, and any other fee in your offer terms, including a broker's service fee.
5. Look at the term, the early termination fee and what the rate becomes at the end. Then compare the totals across the whole contract.

If your city, township or county runs an opt-out aggregation program, which Ohio law calls governmental aggregation, you may already be enrolled. Check your bill to see who supplies you before you compare. Our Ohio price to compare guide shows where to find the default for each electric utility, and electric rates in Ohio gives a wider view of each territory.

What does a monthly fee do to the arithmetic?

Take a household that uses 750 kWh in a month. This is an example, not your usage. In AEP Ohio territory the price to compare is 10.19¢ per kWh, which the chart prints as $0.1019 per kWh. Now picture a made-up offer at 9.69¢ per kWh, printed as $0.0969 per kWh, with a monthly fee of $10.00.

At 750 kWh, supply on the default costs $76.43. The made-up offer costs $82.68 with its fee, so its lower rate does not make it cheaper. The fee adds the same dollars every month, so it weighs more when you use less.

The made-up offer costs less than the default only above about 2,000 kWh a month. The chart's rate column cannot show you that. Only your own usage can.

What are the limits of the Apples to Apples chart?

The chart is a good place to start, but it leaves gaps. Know them before you rely on a row.

• Offers change. PUCO says offers can change at any time. The chart is regularly updated, so an offer you see today may be gone next week.
• It lists supply only. On the electric chart, PUCO says offer prices cover the generation part of your bill, and your utility sets delivery. PUCO's gas bill guide says a supplier's current offer leaves out sales tax, the local utility transportation charge and customer service charges.
• It does not total your cost. The columns do not add the monthly fee to the rate or run your usage. You do that, then add delivery.
• It does not rank or recommend. PUCO shows offers in random order, so position means nothing, and a listing is not a recommendation.
• It does not show the end-of-term rate. Check the offer's terms for it. For electric offers, Ohio rules also require a supplier to send two notices before a fixed introductory rate converts to a variable one (Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-21-20).

What default rates does the chart measure offers against?

These are the defaults we track for each Ohio utility, read from PUCO's charts. Each block shows the rate, the period it covers and the next scheduled change. A utility with no figure for today shows a notice and a link to PUCO's chart instead.

A default can change when its period ends, while a fixed offer holds its rate for its term. That is why you should read the dates on PUCO's chart before you compare.

What if no offer on the chart beats your default rate?

Then the default may be the right place to stay for now. PUCO says you are not required to shop and you keep the same service. Before you decide, filter the chart by rate type and term so you do not miss a fixed offer, and add each fee to the rate.

Offers and defaults both move, so look again after your default's next period starts. If you do want to compare, start with our pages on electric suppliers in Ohio and natural gas suppliers. Our guide to energy choice in Ohio covers who can shop and how switching works. For gas rates by utility, see Compare gas rates Ohio.