Ohio Business Electricity Renewal Calendar, 2026–2029
Ohio market insight · Buying & contracts
Market-reference note: Numerical default-price examples below retain their cited 2026 reference period. They are historical class-level context, not a current account quote. Confirm the applicable business rate, components and effective dates on your bill before comparing an offer. How to establish your benchmark.
The short answer
Start shopping 6–12 months before your contract ends if you run a mid-size or larger account, and 3–6 months ahead if you're a small commercial account that suppliers price from standard offers. Build the calendar around three Ohio dates rather than market guesses: the June 1 reset of default (SSO) prices and capacity tags, your utility's rate-case milestones, and the renewal notices HB 15 requires. Those notices go only to residential and small commercial customers. A mercantile account, meaning one using more than 700,000 kWh a year, gets none of them.
This page is a dated calendar for contracts running from 2026 to 2029. For what moves prices and general timing tactics, see when to renew your contract. For how a firm fixed price is issued and signed once you're ready, see how fixed-price quotes work.
What mid-2025 taught about timing
In mid-2025 the common advice was to lock in before the next PJM capacity auction. That auction, for 2026/27, ran on July 22, 2025 and cleared at its cap of $329.17/MW-day. The next two also cleared at or near their caps: $333.44 for 2027/28 and $325.00 for 2028/29. Whether signing early paid off depended on what capacity price a supplier had assumed before the result came out.
The lesson that still holds is different. Capacity prices are now known through May 2029. For any contract that ends by then, capacity is a fixed input of roughly $118–$122 per kW of capacity tag per year, and every supplier prices it from the same numbers. Auction timing becomes a question again only for contract months from June 2029 onward, because the 2029/30 auction is the next unknown. PJM's price collar still applies to that auction. For terms running 2026–2029, your timing risk comes mainly from energy prices (natural gas and weather) and from how much lead time you leave yourself.
Lead time by account size
| Account | Start shopping | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Small commercial (up to 700,000 kWh/yr) | 3–6 months before the end date | Suppliers quote from standard price matrices, so quotes come back in days |
| Single mercantile site (over 700,000 kWh/yr) | 6–9 months | Custom pricing needs interval data and your capacity tag, and credit review takes time |
| Large or multi-site portfolio | 9–12 months | Allows time to co-term sites, get a master agreement through legal review, and buy in tranches |
The extra months aren't for watching the market. They let you get clean data, credit approval and agreed contract language in place before price day. Then you can sign when a price fits your budget rather than when a deadline forces you to. Firm fixed prices usually expire on the day they're issued, so anything unfinished on that day costs you the price.
Dates that shape Ohio contracts, 2026–2029
| When | What happens | Why it matters for your renewal |
|---|---|---|
| Every June 1 | Utility default (SSO) generation prices reset. Capacity tags reset based on load during the previous summer's PJM peak hours. A new PJM delivery year begins. | Your benchmark and your capacity cost change on the same day |
| June 1, 2026 (already happened) | Small-business SSO rose to about 9.38¢/kWh at Ohio Edison, 9.45¢ at CEI and 9.43¢ at Toledo Edison. Duke's Rate DM first block rose to about 11.36¢. | These are the default prices a supplier offer has to beat through May 2027 |
| After 2026 | Ohio's renewable portfolio standard ends. It is 8.5% for 2026, with no requirement after that. | Ask whether quotes for 2027 onward still carry a state RPS compliance cost |
| Around May 2027 | Duke Energy Ohio's rate case is expected to take effect. It was filed in March 2026 and seeks about 3% for non-residential customers. | Changes your delivery budget, not your supply contract |
| 2027–2029 | FirstEnergy's three-year rate plan (filed May 2026) and AES Ohio's three-year plan (filed July 21, 2026, about 1% a year) run | Delivery charges move independently of your supplier price |
| May 2028 | AEP Ohio's current electric security plan (ESP V) ends. Under HB 15 the default price is set by competitive bidding once it is replaced. | The benchmark for AEP Ohio customers may shift from June 2028 |
| June 2029 onward | First delivery year without a completed capacity auction | Contract terms that run past May 2029 carry capacity uncertainty again |
Renewal notices: who gets them and who doesn't
HB 15 took effect August 14, 2025. It applies when a residential or small commercial customer's fixed price converts to a variable price at expiration. In that case the supplier must send two notices. The first goes out 90–60 days before the fixed price expires and the second 45–15 days before. The notices state the expiring price and the end date, and the second one also shows the variable price that follows. Customers already on variable rates get an annual notice as well.
Two practical points follow:
- The first notice comes too late for a full process. At 60–90 days out, a small account can still collect matrix quotes. A mercantile-sized load would already be behind schedule.
- Most businesses get no statutory notice. For these notices, R.C. 4928.101 defines a small commercial customer as a non-residential account whose demand hasn't exceeded 25 kW in the last 12 months (and excludes customers managing multiple meters where any meter hit 25 kW). A typical restaurant, office floor or shop above 25 kW — and every mercantile account — has to track its own end dates.
For the full list of HB 15 changes, see HB 15 for business.
Pick your end date as carefully as your price
The end date you choose now sets when your next renewal happens:
- End just before a June 1. You can compare the next contract against a fresh SSO price and a fresh capacity tag, and the new contract starts at the beginning of a known delivery year.
- Avoid ending in peak months. If a contract expires in July or January, you may spend a billing cycle on a variable price during the months when short-term prices swing most.
- Co-term multiple sites. When end dates line up, you can bid the whole load at once. See multi-location buying.
- Match your business horizon. A term that runs past a lease expiration or a planned expansion can leave you exposed to early-termination or material-change charges later.
In practice, contracts start and end on meter-read dates, so write the end as "the first meter read on or after" the date you want.
A 12-month working calendar
| Months before end | Tasks |
|---|---|
| 12 | Confirm the end date, renewal clause and early-termination terms, and request 12–24 months of usage and interval data |
| 9 | Get your current capacity tag, list known load changes, and set a budget target in ¢/kWh |
| 6 | Submit credit information, agree contract language with shortlisted suppliers, and request indicative pricing |
| 3–4 | Get firm prices for 12-, 24- and 36-month terms on the same day, then decide and sign |
| 1–2 | The supplier enrolls your accounts for the next meter read. Check the utility's confirmation letter. |
| After the start | Check the first bill for supplier, price and start date, and put the next end date on the calendar |
Small accounts can compress the first half of this schedule. For the data package itself, see building an RFP data room. For running the bid, see the RFP process guide.
FAQ
How far in advance should an Ohio business shop for electricity?
Mid-size and larger accounts should start six to 12 months ahead. Small commercial accounts can start three to six months ahead. The lead time is for getting clean data and credit approval in place so you can sign when a price fits your budget.
Do PJM capacity auctions still matter for timing?
Much less than they did in 2024–2025. Capacity prices are set through May 2029, so auction timing only matters for contract months from June 2029 onward.
Will my supplier warn me before my contract ends?
If you're a small commercial customer whose fixed price converts to a variable price, HB 15 requires two notices: one 90–60 days before expiration and one 45–15 days before. Mercantile customers aren't covered and need to track their own end dates.
Is it better to have a contract end in spring?
Often, yes. Ending just before June 1 lines your next contract up with the new default price and capacity tag, and it keeps you off variable pricing during peak months.