Ohio Natural Gas Rates: Default Rates, Monthly Resets and How to Compare Offers

What are the current natural gas rates in Ohio?

Each of Ohio's four gas utilities sets one default rate for customers who have not picked a supplier. The blocks below show the rate we have on file for each, with its source.

We have no published rate on file for today for Enbridge Gas Ohio. The table shows the last rate we recorded for each, and PUCO's chart states the rate now in force.

PUCO is the source of record. Its comparison site, Energy Choice Ohio (energychoice.ohio.gov), carries the charts, and we last read them on October 1, 2026. Read the dates on the chart before you rely on a figure here: Columbia Gas of Ohio, Enbridge Gas Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio (natural gas), and CenterPoint Energy Ohio.

Each default has its own price-to-compare page with the reset dates: Columbia Gas SCO, Enbridge Gas SCO, Duke Energy Ohio gas SSO, and CenterPoint Energy Ohio SCO. See Ohio Energy Choice for how the program works across the state, and the Ohio price to compare page for the electric side.

What do SCO, SSO and GCR mean for Ohio gas rates?

They are names for the default gas rate. PUCO says the Standard Choice Offer (SCO) is the default at Enbridge Gas Ohio, Columbia Gas of Ohio and CenterPoint Energy Ohio (how SCO rates are set). Duke Energy Ohio calls its default a standard service offer (SSO).

Standard Choice Offer (SCO). The default natural gas rate for a customer who is eligible to shop and does not, made of the NYMEX month-end price plus a retail price adjustment.

NYMEX. The New York Mercantile Exchange, a public market where natural gas and other commodities are traded.

Retail price adjustment. The part of the default set by a yearly auction of suppliers, which PUCO says stays the same for 12 months.

Standard service offer (SSO). The name Duke Energy Ohio's default gas rate has had since April 1, 2026, built from the NYMEX price plus a retail price adjustment. At Columbia, Enbridge and CenterPoint, PUCO also uses SSO for the SCO-priced rate you sit on, usually for one to two billing cycles, after you return to the SCO or leave an aggregation (how SCO rates are set).

Gas cost recovery (GCR). A rate that passes the utility's own cost of buying gas to customers, which Duke Energy Ohio used before April 1, 2026.

The SCO changes monthly because the NYMEX price does. PUCO says SCO customers buy their gas from an approved supplier named on the monthly bill, while Duke's SSO customers keep buying from the utility (understanding your natural gas bill). A supplier's name beside the SCO on your bill does not mean you signed a contract.

What are Ccf and Mcf in natural gas rates?

Ccf means one hundred cubic feet of gas, and Mcf means one thousand cubic feet (Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-29-01). One Mcf equals ten Ccf.

PUCO's chart prints Columbia Gas, Duke Energy Ohio gas, and CenterPoint Energy Ohio in dollars per Ccf and Enbridge Gas in dollars per Mcf. The Enbridge Gas figure looks about ten times larger, though it describes the same kind of price. Compare a rate only with one in the same unit, and only within your own utility's territory.

What does the default rate mean for a month of gas?

Here is the arithmetic for two example months, one light and one heavy. These are examples, not averages, and your bill shows your own use. Each row multiplies the use by the utility's default, in the unit the chart prints. The 150 Ccf month equals 15 Mcf.

These dollars cover the gas only. Delivery, taxes and fees come on top, so this is not a bill. The table is also not a ranking: you can buy default gas only from the utility that serves your address. We have no rate on file for today for Enbridge Gas Ohio, so they are not in the table.

How often do Ohio natural gas rates change?

Every month. Each utility starts its new period on its own date, so your utility's chart is the place to read the dates.

• Columbia Gas of Ohio: the current period runs September 28 – October 26, 2026, so the next one starts October 27, 2026.
• Duke Energy Ohio (natural gas): the current period runs October 1 – November 1, 2026, so the next one starts November 2, 2026.
• CenterPoint Energy Ohio: the current period runs October 1 – October 31, 2026, so the next one starts November 1, 2026.

For Enbridge Gas Ohio, no period covers today in our records. Open the chart for the dates in force.

A new period usually brings a new number. A rate that looks high or low this month can look different the next, which is why a fixed offer holds your price for its term while the default does not.

How much have Ohio gas rates moved over time?

A lot. PUCO says the NYMEX price can change dramatically from one month to the next, and demand for gas is seasonal. Weather, supply and demand all push it. The table shows the low and high default in the periods we hold for each utility.

Against the same time last year, the picture differs by utility.

• For Columbia Gas of Ohio, the current default is down 13.7% from $0.6085 per Ccf (September 29 – October 27, 2025), the period covering most of the same dates a year earlier.
• For Duke Energy Ohio (natural gas), the current default is up 120.6% from $0.460 per Ccf (October 1 – November 2, 2025), the period covering most of the same dates a year earlier.
• For CenterPoint Energy Ohio, the current default is down 6.5% from $0.520 per Ccf (October 2025), the same period a year earlier.

Duke Energy Ohio's records before April 2026 are its GCR, so its history spans two names for the default (PUCO's Duke chart). Past rates do not predict the next period, and we give no forecast.

How does a natural gas bill split between supply and delivery?

A gas bill has two main parts: the gas itself and the delivery of it. PUCO names them as the price of the natural gas product and the price for its transportation and delivery.

The default rate covers the gas. Your local gas utility handles delivery, and PUCO says it also offers payment plans and responds to emergency calls, whichever supplier you use. PUCO's glossary says a supplier's current offer leaves out sales tax, the utility's transportation charge and its customer service charges (PUCO glossary).

That is why a rate on the chart is not your total cost per unit. Each utility explains the parts of its own bill on its website, and PUCO links to all four. Look for the SCO or SSO line on your bill to confirm what you are on.

Who has the cheapest natural gas rates?

No single company has the cheapest natural gas rate for every household, and the answer changes every month. Your utility sets one default rate for its territory. Only a supplier offer can beat it, and whether one does depends on its term, its fees and what it charges after the term.

The four defaults above use different units and cover different territories, so they do not tell you who is cheapest. You can buy default gas only from the utility that serves your address. This page names no supplier and ranks none.

Who has the cheapest gas in Ohio right now?

PUCO's Apples to Apples chart is the place to check. PUCO calls it the only comparison in the state for which suppliers must provide accurate, up-to-date offers (glossary). It shows live offers in random order, so the first row is not a ranking. Here is how to read it.

1. Pick your utility, since offers differ by territory.
2. Enter your current rate, if you know it, and set the filters for rate type, term, early termination fee and monthly fee.
3. Compare each rate with your utility's default, in the same unit.
4. Add the monthly fee and any other fee in the offer terms, including a broker's service fee.
5. Check what the rate becomes when the term ends, then look again next month.

Our Apples to Apples guide and the natural gas chart guide explain the chart in more detail.

Which columns matter most on the gas chart?

Start with the price and its unit, then read the rate type, term and early termination fee. Apples to Apples defines every column.

• Price: what the supplier charges for the gas, in the unit the chart prints. It leaves out tax and delivery.
• Rate type and intro price: fixed stays the same for the term, and variable can change. Ask what an intro price becomes when it ends.
• 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 added each month on top of the usage rate, as PUCO's glossary defines it.

When does staying on the default gas rate make sense?

Energy choice is an opportunity, not a mandate. PUCO says there is no deadline to choose, no promise of savings, and you keep the same delivery service either way (Energy Choice Ohio FAQs).

• Every offer on the chart sits above your utility's default.
• An offer's monthly fee or early termination fee wipes out its lower rate at your use.
• You may move soon. A fee for leaving early could follow you.
• You are on the Percentage of Income Payment Plan Plus (PIPP Plus). PUCO says those customers cannot shop for a supplier.
• Your gas comes from a municipal or co-op system. PUCO does not regulate those, so they are outside the choice program.

If you want to compare suppliers, start with our Ohio natural gas suppliers guide. For electricity, see electric suppliers in Ohio and the Ohio price to compare.