Ohio gave you energy choice. Most businesses never use it.
If your business is still on the utility's Standard Service Offer, you're paying a floating default rate with no protection. We shop Ohio's competitive suppliers and lock in fixed rates built around your usage.
Rates checked October 2026
Ohio's commercial average: 13.12¢/kWh
A touch below Pennsylvania's average — but Ohio's default SSO rate reprices through auctions, so the average and what you'll pay next quarter are two different things. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration commercial retail data, via Integrity Energy.
Massachusetts businesses pay 25.64¢/kWh on average — nearly double Ohio. Geography is destiny in electricity pricing.
Averages are context, not your price. Your bill depends on your utility, your capacity tags, and your contract — more on that below.
How energy choice works in Ohio
Ohio opened electricity supply to competition in 2001, and PUCO — the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio — oversees the market.
Your utility delivers
AEP Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio, AES Ohio (Dayton), or a FirstEnergy company (Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison) keeps the wires, reads meters, and restores power.
You pick the supplier
Licensed competitive suppliers offer fixed, variable, and hybrid rates. PUCO's Apples to Apples charts let you compare headline offers — but the real cost depends on your load profile.
We negotiate for you
We take your actual interval or billing history to multiple suppliers, compare true all-in pricing, and flag the contract terms that matter — so you sign the right deal, not just the cheapest headline.
Your utility, your watch-list
We don't publish per-utility rates — they move too fast for a webpage to stay honest. Here's what to watch at each major Ohio utility instead:
AEP Ohio
Columbus area
The SSO default reprices through PUCO-overseen auctions — never assume it stayed where it was last quarter. Compare every cycle.
Duke Energy Ohio
Cincinnati area
Same SSO structure as AEP. The auction-set default can look fine one period and jump the next — fixed offers are the antidote.
AES Ohio
Dayton area
Smaller territory, same choice rules. PUCO's Apples to Apples chart is a starting point — your load profile determines the real cost.
FirstEnergy
Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison
Three utilities, three SSO rates under one parent. Multi-site businesses need one strategy across all three — not three separate guesses.
Your exact number depends on your utility and your usage — upload your bill and we'll benchmark it against live supplier offers, in one business day.
Why the official average lies (a little)
That 13.12¢ is real EIA data — but it's a statewide average, and averages hide as much as they reveal. It blends municipal utilities and co-ops (not in the choice market at all) with SSO default rates and competitive supply contracts. It averages corner shops with factories.
Treat it as the weather report for Ohio: useful context, not your price. Your price comes down to three things — which utility delivers your power, what your capacity tags look like, and whether you're on the SSO default or a competitive contract.
What drives YOUR bill in Ohio
The SSO drift
The Standard Service Offer is repriced through auctions — it can look competitive one period and jump the next. Businesses that treat it as 'good enough' often discover the hard way that it isn't.
PJM capacity and transmission
Ohio sits in PJM, so your PLC (capacity) and NSPL (transmission) tags — set by usage during a few peak hours — drive a major slice of the bill. We build peak-management strategy into every Ohio engagement.
Government aggregation
Many Ohio communities bulk-buy supply for residents and small businesses (aggregation). The opt-out rate isn't always the best deal for a commercial account — compare it against a brokered quote before assuming.
Renewal timing
Supplier contracts here commonly run 12–36 months. Shopping 3–6 months before expiration — never the week of — is the difference between leverage and desperation.
Two topics worth their own guides: demand charges, explained — and what happens when your contract expires.
Know your number, not the average.
Upload your bill and we'll benchmark your current rate against live supplier offers — free, back to you in one business day.
Upload My BillOhio FAQs
What is the average commercial electricity rate in Ohio?
About 13.12¢/kWh statewide, per EIA commercial retail data (checked October 2026). Your actual rate depends on your utility, your PLC/NSPL capacity tags, and whether you're on the SSO default or a competitive contract.
Why is my commercial rate higher than the Ohio average?
Common culprits: drifting on the SSO default through an auction repricing, inflated capacity tags from unmanaged peaks, or a community aggregation rate that isn't the best deal for a commercial account. A bill review finds which one fast.
Which utility delivers my power in Ohio?
It's on your bill's delivery section — AEP Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio, AES Ohio, or a FirstEnergy company (Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison). Delivery never changes when you switch suppliers; only the supply rate does.
What is the Standard Service Offer (SSO) in Ohio?
It's the default supply rate your utility charges if you don't choose a supplier — set through PUCO-overseen auctions and adjusted periodically. Like other default rates, it offers zero price protection: when wholesale markets rise, the SSO follows.
What is PUCO's Apples to Apples chart?
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio publishes comparison charts showing supplier offers side by side. They're a useful starting point — but they don't account for your usage pattern, contract terms, or the fees hiding in the fine print.
Does switching suppliers affect my reliability?
Not at all. AEP Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio, AES Ohio, or your FirstEnergy utility still delivers the power and handles outages. Switching only changes the supply company and rate on your bill.
Are there capacity charges in Ohio like Pennsylvania?
Yes — Ohio is also in the PJM grid, so commercial bills carry capacity (PLC) and transmission (NSPL) components driven by peak-hour usage. Managing those tags is just as important here as in PA.
Still on the Standard Service Offer?
Send us your bill. We'll benchmark your current rate against live supplier offers and show you the fixed-rate alternative — free, no obligation.
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