Electric Suppliers in Ohio: How the Market Works and How to Compare Offers

Who are the electric suppliers in Ohio?

They are companies that sell you the electricity itself, the supply part of your bill. Ohio law calls the service competitive retail electric service, so PUCO calls these companies CRES providers. They compete with your utility's default and with each other.

CRES provider. A Competitive Retail Electric Service provider, which is a PUCO-certified company that competes for your business with its own prices and terms.

Standard Service Offer (SSO). The electric supply your local utility gives you if you do not choose a supplier.

Price to compare. The default supply rate on your utility bill, which is the number a supplier offer has to beat.

Your local utility does not change when you pick a supplier, and you still call it for a power outage (PUCO's choice FAQs). Supplier names change as companies enter and leave the market, so this page names none. The place to see who is selling now is the chart on Energy Choice Ohio (energychoice.ohio.gov), PUCO's comparison site. Our Ohio energy choice guide explains the program from the start.

Who is the cheapest electric supplier in Ohio?

No one supplier is the cheapest for everyone, and the answer changes as suppliers update their offers. PUCO says the Apples to Apples chart shows live offers in random order, so the top row is not ranked. The cheapest-looking rate on the chart is also not always the cheapest contract, because term, fees and the rate after the term all count.

This page names no supplier and ranks none. To find the cheapest offer for your home, run the same check on every offer you are weighing.

1. Find your utility's price to compare on your bill, or use our price to compare lookup. Check a few recent bills, because it can change.
2. Open the Apples to Apples chart for your utility and read the rate, rate type, term and fees of each offer.
3. Multiply your own monthly kWh by each rate, then add the monthly fee and any other fee.
4. Check what happens at the end of the term, including a switch to a variable rate.
5. Compare the total over the whole term, not one month.

Who is the cheapest energy supplier in Ohio?

Energy covers both electricity and natural gas. Ohio keeps a separate chart, unit and default rate for each, and PUCO governs them under separate rule chapters: Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-21 for electric and 4901:1-29 for gas.

Electric offers are priced per kilowatt-hour. Gas offers are priced per Ccf or Mcf, which are units of gas volume. Our Ohio natural gas suppliers guide covers the gas side, and natural gas rates in Ohio shows each gas utility's default.

How do you line up two electric supplier offers side by side?

To line up two offers, set each one beside the price to compare in the same unit. PUCO prints the chart's rates in dollars per kWh, and we show the price to compare in cents. The chart also lists the offer's rate type, term and fees (the electric chart).

Take a month in which a home uses 750 kilowatt-hours (kWh). This is an example, not an average, and your bill shows your own use. Multiply the use by a rate and you get the supply charge. The table does that for each utility and its price to compare.

The table is not a ranking, since you can buy default power only from the utility that serves your address.

To test an offer, multiply the same use by the offer's rate and add its monthly fee and any other fee in its terms. The electric bill calculator does the arithmetic. Delivery charges come on top of both sides.

The price to compare covers supply only. Transmission, the high-voltage grid, and distribution, the local poles and wires, are billed on top whichever supplier you use. For one utility's history and next reset, see electric rates in Ohio or the Ohio price to compare.

Which chart details tell one electric supplier's offer from another?

The Apples to Apples chart is PUCO's side-by-side list of supplier offers for one utility territory. PUCO says it lists only certified suppliers that are actively enrolling new customers, and that suppliers are responsible for the accuracy of their offers.

• Price: the supply rate in dollars per kWh. Compare it with the price to compare.
• Rate type and intro price: fixed keeps the same price for the term. Variable can change under the formula or factors stated in the contract. An intro price is a starting rate, so ask what it becomes afterward.
• Term and early termination fee: how many months the offer runs, and what you may owe if you leave before it ends.
• Monthly fee: a flat charge on top of the usage rate.
• Renewable content: the share of the supply the supplier says comes from renewable sources.

Our Apples to Apples Ohio guide defines every column, and its electric chart page walks through the screen.

How does Ohio certify electric suppliers?

Ohio law bars a supplier from selling competitive electric service until PUCO certifies it. The company must show managerial, technical and financial capability and provide a financial safeguard that protects customers and utilities from default (Ohio Revised Code 4928.08).

Certification renews on a schedule, and PUCO may suspend or rescind it after notice and a hearing if a supplier breaks the standards or uses unfair or deceptive practices. A utility may not knowingly deliver power for an uncertified supplier. Certification does not mean PUCO endorses a supplier's prices, so you still compare the offer yourself.

Energy Choice Ohio links its certified-supplier lists to PUCO's regulated company list, where you can filter for a company before you sign. If you cannot find a company there, ask PUCO before you sign.

What should an electric supplier contract spell out?

The contract is the document that fixes your price and your exit, so each term below should appear in it. Ohio's marketing rule says an offer must state any other recurring or one-time charge and that utility delivery charges are extra (Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-21-05).

• Rate type. It states whether the rate is fixed for the term or variable. A variable rate can rise or fall, and the contract says how and how often.
• Term. It gives the number of months and says what the rate becomes after the term.
• Early termination fee (ETF). This is the charge for leaving early. PUCO says there may be one, and the contract must disclose it.
• Monthly fee. PUCO defines it as a fixed monthly charge in addition to a usage rate. It raises your real cost most when you use little.
• Switching fee. It states whether one applies.
• Renewal. It says whether the contract renews on its own, and at what rate.

Suppliers must tell you before a contract ends. For most residential contracts, the notice goes out 45 to 90 days ahead (Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-21-11). If a fixed introductory rate turns variable, the supplier must send two notices before it does, and an annual reminder after, under a rule that took effect January 1, 2026 (4901:1-21-20).

After you sign, your supplier sends your utility an enrollment request. The utility mails you a confirmation notice. You have seven days from its postmark date to call the utility and cancel (Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-10-29).

How do you spot a misleading electric sales pitch?

Ohio's rules set limits on how suppliers may sell, and a pitch that breaks them is a warning sign (Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-21-05).

• A door-to-door agent must wear and display a valid supplier photo ID. Ask to see it.
• Without a local rule, agents may not sell door to door before 9 a.m. or after 7 p.m.
• An agent must leave your property when you ask (4901:1-21-06).
• A door-to-door sale needs a separate third-party verification before the supplier submits it, and the verifier must confirm the agent has left your property (4901:1-21-06).
• A caller may not phone homes before 9 a.m. or after 9 p.m., or call numbers on the federal Do Not Call registry unless exempt.
• No seller may lead you to think it acts for your utility or anyone else. A claim of a price advantage that does not exist is also barred.
• Switching your supplier without your approval, called slamming, is illegal. PUCO enforces the penalties.

You never have to decide on the spot. If something seems wrong, call your utility to stop an enrollment, and call PUCO at (800) 686-PUCO to file a complaint (Energy Choice Ohio).

How does community aggregation change your choices?

Your community may buy electricity for its residents through governmental aggregation. Ohio law lets a city, township or county run an automatic program if voters approve it, and the program must tell you its rates and terms and how to opt out before it enrolls you (Ohio Revised Code 4928.20).

If you are in one, your supply may come from the program and not from your utility's default. Check your bill to see who supplies you before you compare anything. A price to compare is still a fair yardstick for the program's rate.

What do you give up and keep by staying on the default?

You give up a price locked for a term, since the default resets on its own schedule. You keep your choice, because shopping is optional. PUCO says there is no deadline, no promise of savings, and the same delivery service either way (Energy Choice Ohio FAQs).

Staying put may be the better call when:

• Every offer you can find sits above the price to compare.
• An offer's monthly fee or early termination fee erases a lower rate at your use.
• You may move before a contract ends.
• You are on the Percentage of Income Payment Plan Plus (PIPP Plus), which PUCO says is not eligible for choice.
• You are a member of an electric co-op or a customer of a municipal electric system, which sit outside the choice program.
• You do not want to track an end date or a rate that turns variable.