How Fixed-Price Electricity Quotes Work in Ohio

Ohio market insight · Buying & contracts

Updated September 27, 2026Ohio Commercial Energy editorial teamHow we review content Book a free 15-min bill review

The short answer

A fixed-price quote from an Ohio supplier is a firm offer to supply your accounts at a set ¢/kWh for a stated term. It is usually good only for the day it's issued, and sometimes only for a few hours. The price covers the generation side of your bill: energy, capacity, ancillary services and losses, the supplier's margin and any broker fee. Your utility keeps billing distribution and network transmission, which are non-bypassable at all four Ohio utilities. The price locks when the supplier accepts your signed contract after approving your credit. It starts on a meter-read date, usually one or two billing cycles later.

This page covers how the quote itself works. For when to start shopping, see the renewal calendar. For choosing between fixed and index products, see fixed vs variable rates. For running a bid with several suppliers, see the RFP process guide.

Indicative vs firm prices

	Indicative price	Firm (executable) price
Purpose	Budgeting and shortlisting suppliers	Signing
Validity	None; it moves with the market	Usually until the end of that business day, sometimes a few hours
What the supplier needs	Rough usage	Account numbers, usage history, capacity tag, credit approval
If you miss it	Nothing is lost	Re-priced at the next market, which may be higher or lower

Suppliers set firm prices from that morning's wholesale forward prices and hedge the moment you sign, which is why the window is short. Board approval, a second signature and legal review all need to be done before price day. If they aren't, the quote simply lapses.

What a fixed price covers, and what it doesn't

Component	Included in a typical Ohio fixed supply price?	Notes
Energy (wholesale power shaped to your load)	Yes	The largest piece. It follows forward power prices, which track natural gas.
Capacity (your tag × the PJM price)	Yes, unless the contract passes it through	Known through May 2029 (see below)
Ancillary services and line losses	Usually	Check that none of them appear on a pass-through list
State renewable (RPS) compliance	Yes, for 2026	Ohio's requirement is 8.5% in 2026 and ends after 2026
Supplier margin and broker fee	Yes	Get the broker fee in writing, in ¢/kWh
Network transmission	No, the utility bills it	AEP Ohio (Basic Transmission Cost Rider), Duke (Rider BTR), FirstEnergy (Rider NMB) and AES Ohio (TCRR-N) all collect it through non-bypassable riders
Distribution, other utility riders, customer charge	No	Set by the utility tariff and approved by PUCO
kWh excise tax	No	Collected by the utility. Ohio has no sales tax on electricity.

When a quote says it "includes transmission," it usually means only the market-based items the supplier handles, not the network transmission rider on your utility bill. The exception is large customers in a utility transmission pilot that shifts those costs. When you compare a supplier's price with your utility's price to compare, set generation against generation. For more on that benchmark, see the price to compare.

Capacity is already priced

PJM delivery year (June–May)	$/MW-day	≈ $ per kW of capacity tag per year
2025/26	$269.92	$98.52
2026/27	$329.17	$120.15
2027/28	$333.44	$121.71
2028/29	$325.00	$118.63

A site with a 100 kW capacity tag carries about $12,000 a year of capacity cost in 2026/27, whether that cost sits inside the fixed price or is passed through. Suppliers differ in two details. One is whether the price stays fixed when your tag changes each June 1. The other is how months after May 2029, which no auction has priced yet, are treated. Get both answers written into the contract, not just an email.

The credit check

A supplier won't honor a firm price until it has approved your credit. Expect to be asked for:

The legal entity name and federal EIN, exactly as they appear on the utility account
Recent financial statements (private companies) or public filings
Permission to pull a business credit report
For weaker credit or new entities: a deposit, prepayment, letter of credit or parent guarantee

PUCO's rules require suppliers to use reasonable, non-discriminatory credit standards and to accept a reasonable cash deposit as proof of creditworthiness. Deposit terms have to be disclosed in the contract. Get credit approved with each shortlisted supplier before price day, because a same-day credit review is the most common reason a good price lapses. For more, see supplier credit mistakes.

Signing mechanics

Contract form. Small accounts usually sign a single agreement with the price on its face. Larger buyers often sign a master agreement once and then a short pricing confirmation for each purchase.
Account schedule. List every utility account number, service address and rate schedule exactly as they appear on the bill. One wrong digit means a failed enrollment.
Authorized signer. Someone who can bind the entity has to be available on price day. E-signature is standard.
Countersignature. The price is locked when the supplier accepts, not when you send your signature. Ask for written confirmation of the price and the time it was locked.
Read the terms before price day. Look at renewal terms, bandwidth, the pass-through list, material-change language and the early-termination formula. See red-flag clauses and the contract terms glossary.

When the price actually starts

Supplier service starts on a meter-read date, not a calendar date. After you sign, the supplier sends an enrollment to your utility. If it arrives in time, the switch happens at the next read; if not, at the one after. AEP Ohio, for example, needs the enrollment 12 days before the read. In practice that usually means one to two billing cycles.

The utility mails a confirmation letter. Small commercial customers have 7 days from its postmark to rescind. Mercantile customers, those using more than 700,000 kWh a year, don't have that right.
If you're leaving another supplier, that contract ends when the new enrollment takes effect, and any early-termination charge in it still applies.
Write the start date as "the first meter read on or after [date]" so the new contract lines up with the old one's end and you don't spend a month on a variable price.
Check the first bill for the supplier's name, the price and the start date.

What summer 2025 actually showed

A lot of 2025 content told businesses to lock in before summer because prices "always spike." Short-term prices do climb during heat waves, but a fixed quote reflects forward prices for the whole term, not the week's weather. The more useful lesson from 2025 was about contract language. When the 2025/26 capacity price reached $269.92/MW-day, more than nine times the prior year's $28.92, customers whose "fixed" contracts passed capacity through saw their bills jump, while customers with capacity included did not. Read the capacity clause first.

FAQ

How long is a fixed electricity quote good for in Ohio?

Usually until the end of the business day it's issued, and sometimes only a few hours. If you miss it, the price is re-quoted at the next market.

Does a fixed price include transmission?

Usually not network transmission, because all four Ohio utilities bill it through non-bypassable riders on the delivery side. Get written confirmation of exactly what the supplier's price includes.

Why does a supplier run a credit check?

When you sign, the supplier buys power for your whole term and takes the risk that you won't pay. It can require a deposit or other security, but PUCO rules say its credit standards must be reasonable and disclosed.

When does my new fixed price start?

On a meter-read date after the utility processes the enrollment, usually one to two billing cycles after you sign.