Ohio Energy Savings, LLC is certified by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio as a Power Broker (Certificate No. 26-155492E) and a Retail Natural Gas Broker (Certificate No. 26-155491G). We work only with suppliers certified by PUCO. We are not a utility and not a supplier. Your local utility still delivers your power and handles outages.
Ohio Price to Compare: What It Is and How to Use It
The price to compare is the default supply rate your utility charges when you have not picked a supplier. In Ohio, PUCO (the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio) posts it for each electric utility on its Energy Choice Ohio chart. Use it as the yardstick for any offer from a competing supplier.
Updated
In short
- The price to compare is your utility's default supply rate, a price per kilowatt-hour.
- PUCO's Energy Choice Ohio chart shows it for each utility, with the dates it covers.
- Utilities reset it on different schedules, so read the dates on the chart.
- A fixed offer below it may cost less for supply, but fees and terms can change the result.
- Staying on the default can be the right choice.
What is the price to compare in Ohio?
The price to compare is the rate you pay for the electricity itself when you stay on your utility's default service. It is a price per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the unit your meter counts. We show it in cents, while PUCO's chart prints it in dollars. Ohio uses it as a yardstick, so you can set any supplier offer beside it.
Price to compare. The default supply rate your electric utility charges customers who have not chosen a supplier.
Standard Service Offer (SSO). The default electric supply service a utility must provide, and the source of the price to compare.
CRES provider. A Competitive Retail Electric Service provider, which is a supplier that sells electricity in competition with your utility's default.
Your bill has two main parts. Supply is the power. Delivery is the poles, wires and meter, and your utility still bills it whichever supplier you pick. The price to compare covers supply only, so it is not your all-in rate per kWh.
Where do you find the Ohio price to compare?
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) publishes it on Energy Choice Ohio, its consumer site for comparing electric and gas offers. Pick your utility on the Apples to Apples chart, and the chart states the price to compare and the dates it covers.
The Apples to Apples chart is PUCO's side-by-side list of supplier offers for one utility territory. If you are not sure which utility serves you, the price to compare lookup matches your ZIP code to one.
Your electric bill shows it too, because Ohio's utility billing rules require it on residential bills. Your bill also shows who supplies you. If you already buy from a supplier, the price to compare is not your rate. It is still the number to hold a renewal offer against.
What is the current price to compare for each Ohio electric utility?
The table below lists the price to compare, the period it covers and the source for each of the six electric utilities. Each row comes from the dataset behind this site, which we read from PUCO's chart by hand.
AEP Ohio
10.19¢ per kWh
Price to compare, October 1 – December 31, 2026
Next scheduled change:
Source: PUCO Energy Choice Ohio chart. Covers October 1 – December 31, 2026. Read on .
Ohio Edison
11.07¢ per kWh
Price to compare, October 1 – December 31, 2026
Next scheduled change:
Source: PUCO Energy Choice Ohio chart. Covers October 1 – December 31, 2026. Read on .
The Illuminating Company
11.24¢ per kWh
Price to compare, October 1 – December 31, 2026
Next scheduled change:
Source: PUCO Energy Choice Ohio chart. Covers October 1 – December 31, 2026. Read on .
Toledo Edison
11.26¢ per kWh
Price to compare, October 1 – December 31, 2026
Next scheduled change:
Source: PUCO Energy Choice Ohio chart. Covers October 1 – December 31, 2026. Read on .
Duke Energy Ohio
10.49¢ per kWh
Price to compare, October 1 – October 31, 2026
Next scheduled change:
Source: PUCO Energy Choice Ohio chart. Covers October 1 – October 31, 2026. Read on .
AES Ohio
10.86¢ per kWh
Price to compare, June 1, 2026 – May 31, 2027
Next scheduled change:
Source: PUCO Energy Choice Ohio chart. Covers June 1, 2026 – May 31, 2027. Read on .
Each utility has its own page with the rate history and the next reset date. Start with the AEP Ohio price to compare or use the reset table in the section below. For a wider view of each territory, see electric rates in Ohio.
How is the price to compare set for electric and gas?
Electric and gas defaults work differently. Electric uses the standard service offer. Gas uses a rate with a different name, and the names change by utility.
Electric: the standard service offer
An electric utility sets its standard service offer from auction results for the supply it buys, then adjusts it as certain charges change. PUCO explains how electric generation rates are set. The result is the price to compare, and PUCO's chart shows the number and the period it covers.
If you are enrolled in your community's aggregation program, your supply comes from the program, not the default. Most Ohio programs enroll residents automatically unless they opt out, and only after a local vote (Ohio Revised Code 4928.20). PUCO's page on choosing an electric supplier explains your options. Check your bill to see who supplies you before you compare anything.
Natural gas: SCO, SSO and GCR
For gas, the default is usually the Standard Choice Offer (SCO). PUCO says the SCO is the default for Enbridge Gas Ohio, Columbia Gas of Ohio and CenterPoint Energy Ohio, and that it changes monthly (how SCO rates are set). Duke Energy Ohio's gas chart calls its default a standard service offer (SSO), also set by the month. Gas suppliers are called CRNGS providers, short for Competitive Retail Natural Gas Service.
You may also see gas cost recovery (GCR). Ohio's gas rules define it as the periodically updated rate a gas company uses to pass through its own cost of purchased gas (Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-14-01).
We track gas defaults separately. See natural gas rates in Ohio for the gas utilities and Apples to Apples for natural gas for the gas chart. Each gas utility has its own page: Columbia Gas price to compare, Enbridge Gas Ohio SCO rate, Duke Energy Ohio gas price to compare, and CenterPoint Energy Ohio SCO rate.
How often does the price to compare change?
It depends on your utility. Some reset once a year, some at the start of each quarter, and some more often. The table gives each electric utility's schedule in the words we use across the site.
| Utility | How it resets | Utility page |
|---|---|---|
| AEP Ohio | The default rate is reset each June 1 with the year's auction results and adjusted again at the start of later quarters as riders update. PUCO's chart states the period the current rate covers. | AEP Ohio price to compare |
| Duke Energy Ohio | Duke Energy Ohio adjusts its default rate on a rolling basis, often monthly, as riders update. PUCO's chart states the period the current rate covers. | Duke Energy Ohio price to compare |
| Ohio Edison | The FirstEnergy Ohio companies reset the default generation rate each June 1 and adjust it at the start of later quarters as riders update. PUCO's chart states the period the current rate covers. | Ohio Edison price to compare |
| The Illuminating Company | The FirstEnergy Ohio companies reset the default generation rate each June 1 and adjust it at the start of later quarters as riders update. PUCO's chart states the period the current rate covers. | Illuminating Company price to compare |
| Toledo Edison | The FirstEnergy Ohio companies reset the default generation rate each June 1 and adjust it at the start of later quarters as riders update. PUCO's chart states the period the current rate covers. | Toledo Edison price to compare |
| AES Ohio | AES Ohio sets its default rate once a year, effective June 1. PUCO's chart states the period the current rate covers. | AES Ohio price to compare |
Always read the dates on PUCO's chart before you compare. A rate that looks high or low today can look different after the next reset. A fixed offer holds its rate for its term, while the default can move up or down at a reset.
How do you use the price to compare to judge an offer?
You may pay less than the price to compare with a fixed offer below it. You may also pay more, so run the arithmetic yourself. Use the same usage for both sides.
- Find your utility's price to compare and the dates it covers on PUCO's chart.
- Find the offer's rate, whether it is fixed or variable, its term in months, its monthly fee and its early termination fee (ETF), the charge for leaving the contract early.
- Check what rate the offer moves to when the term ends. Some offers turn into a variable rate.
- Multiply your monthly kWh by each rate as the chart prints it, in dollars per kWh. The result is dollars. Add the offer's monthly fee and any other fee in your offer terms, including a broker's service fee.
- Compare the two totals for a month and again across the full term.
Your past bills show your usage. Use a full year if you can, since summer and winter differ.
The chart lists each offer's rate, rate type, intro price, term, fees and extras. Compare each rate with the price to compare, which is in the same unit. Our Apples to Apples Ohio guide explains every column.
When you pick an offer, the 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 the switch (Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-10-29).
What does the arithmetic look like with AEP Ohio's current rate?
Take a household that uses 750 kWh in a month. This is an example, not your usage. In AEP Ohio territory, the current price to compare is 10.19¢ per kWh. The chart prints it as $0.1019 per kWh, and 750 kWh times that figure is $76.43 for the supply portion of that month.
Now picture a fixed offer priced at 9.69¢ per kWh. The same 750 kWh would cost $72.68 in supply charges, before any fee. That offer is made up for this example. Your real offers, fees and usage will change the result.
| Monthly usage | Supply charge at the price to compare |
|---|---|
| 500 kWh | $50.95 |
| 750 kWh | $76.43 |
| 1,000 kWh | $101.90 |
To run your own version, swap in your usage and the rate of the offer you are weighing. Add any other fee in your offer terms, including a broker's service fee, to the offer's total. Then look at the whole contract term, not one month, because the price to compare may move at a reset while a fixed rate stays put.
What does the price to compare tell you about whether to switch?
Staying put can be the better choice when no fixed offer sits below the price to compare, or when an offer's fees and terms erase the gap.
- Every offer you can find is above the price to compare.
- An offer charges a monthly fee that cancels the lower rate at your usage.
- You may move soon and would owe an early termination fee.
- You are in PIPP Plus, the Percentage of Income Payment Plan Plus. PUCO says PIPP Plus customers cannot shop for a supplier (how generation rates and choice work).
- You are a customer of a municipal utility or an electric co-op. They are outside Ohio's choice program.
- You do not want to track a contract end date, or a rate that becomes variable after the term.
Whichever path you choose, your utility still delivers your power, reads your meter and answers outage calls. A supplier changes who sells you the electricity. It does not change who keeps the lights on.
If you do want to compare, start with our electric suppliers page or read about energy choice in Ohio.
Frequently asked questions
What does the price to compare include?
It covers the supply portion of your electric bill: the power itself, priced per kilowatt-hour. It leaves out delivery charges, which your utility bills whichever supplier you pick. Compare it only with a supplier's supply rate, never with your whole bill divided by your usage.
Does the price to compare apply if I already have a supplier?
No. It is the rate for default service, so it does not set your price while a supplier contract is active. It is still the number to hold a renewal offer against. Check your bill to see who supplies you and what rate you pay.
Is an offer below the price to compare always cheaper?
Not always. A monthly fee, an early termination fee or a rate that turns variable after the term can erase a lower rate. Run the arithmetic with your own usage, add the fees, and compare the totals for the full contract term.
Who publishes the price to compare in Ohio?
PUCO publishes it on its Energy Choice Ohio site, in the Apples to Apples chart for each utility territory. The chart shows the number and the dates it covers. Ohio rules also require your utility to print it on your residential electric bill, so you can check it there too.
Is there a price to compare for natural gas in Ohio?
Yes, in effect. Ohio's gas billing rule, Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-13-11, requires a price-to-compare statement on residential gas bills that points to the default rate. For Enbridge Gas Ohio, Columbia Gas of Ohio and CenterPoint Energy Ohio that is the Standard Choice Offer, which PUCO says changes monthly; Duke Energy Ohio's is a standard service offer.
Sources
- Energy Choice Ohio, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio's comparison site
- How are electric generation rates set? (PUCO)
- Choosing an electric supplier (PUCO)
- How are standard choice offer rates set? (PUCO)
- Ohio Revised Code 4928.20, governmental aggregation
- Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-10-22, residential bills
- Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-10-29, customer enrollment
- Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-14-01, gas definitions
- Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-13-11, gas bills
- AEP Ohio Apples to Apples chart (PUCO), read
- Duke Energy Ohio Apples to Apples chart (PUCO), read
- Ohio Edison Apples to Apples chart (PUCO), read
- The Illuminating Company Apples to Apples chart (PUCO), read
- Toledo Edison Apples to Apples chart (PUCO), read
- AES Ohio Apples to Apples chart (PUCO), read
Ohio Energy Savings compares plans. Suppliers pay us a commission when a household enrolls, and we also charge a service fee; you see the fee terms in your offer. See how we get paid.