Can Businesses in Municipal or Co-op Areas Shop for Power?

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

The short answer

Generally, no. Ohio's electric choice law covers customers of the six investor-owned utilities — AEP Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio, AES Ohio, Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison. Ohio's Legislative Service Commission puts it plainly: "Customers of municipal electric utilities and members of electric cooperatives cannot shop for electric generation service." That matters because 84 Ohio municipalities run their own electric systems and 25 cooperatives serve more than 380,000 homes and businesses across 77 of Ohio's 88 counties. Businesses in those areas can still cut costs through their rate schedule, demand, power factor, efficiency and on-site generation.

Related pages: for the default price that shopping customers try to beat, see the price to compare for businesses; for the 2025 law that changed how investor-owned utilities set prices, see House Bill 15 explained; and for city-run programs that buy power for investor-owned-utility customers, see governmental aggregation for small businesses.

Who can and can't choose a supplier

Provider type	Examples	Can a business choose a generation supplier?	Regulated by PUCO?
Investor-owned utility	AEP Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio, AES Ohio, Ohio Edison, CEI, Toledo Edison	Yes	Yes
Municipal electric system	Hamilton, Westerville, Cuyahoga Falls, Bowling Green, Piqua	Generally no	No — the city runs it
Electric cooperative	South Central Power Company, The Energy Cooperative, Union Rural Electric Cooperative, Consolidated Cooperative	Generally no	No — member-owned

The legal reason: Ohio's choice statute defines an "electric utility" as a for-profit company with a certified territory and expressly excludes municipal electric utilities (R.C. 4928.01(A)(11)). Cooperatives are not-for-profit and member-owned. Utilities and co-ops each have the exclusive right to serve their certified territories, so a business can't move to a different wires company either.

Municipal systems in the cities we cover

City	Municipal system	Investor-owned utility in the surrounding area
Bowling Green	Bowling Green Municipal Utilities	Toledo Edison
Cuyahoga Falls	Cuyahoga Falls Electric	Ohio Edison
Dover	Dover Light & Power	AEP Ohio
Galion	City of Galion Electric Department	AEP Ohio
Hamilton	City of Hamilton Electric Utility	Duke Energy Ohio
Niles	Niles Light Department	Ohio Edison
Painesville	Painesville Municipal Electric	The Illuminating Company
Piqua	Piqua Power System	AES Ohio
Wadsworth	Wadsworth Electric & Communications	Ohio Edison
Westerville	Westerville Electric Division	AEP Ohio

Two large cities have municipal systems that cover only part of the city:

Cleveland: Cleveland Public Power (CPP) serves roughly 74,000 homes and businesses in parts of the city, block by block. CPP accounts can't choose a supplier; The Illuminating Company serves the rest of Cleveland, and those accounts can.
Columbus: the City of Columbus Division of Power serves about 12,500 meters in defined areas; those accounts can't shop. AEP Ohio serves the large majority of the city.

Many smaller municipal systems operate in towns such as Bryan (Williams County), Napoleon (Henry County), Celina (Mercer County), St. Marys and Wapakoneta (Auglaize County), Orrville (Wayne County), Hudson (Summit County), Oberlin (Lorain County), Lebanon (Warren County), Tipp City (Miami County), Jackson (Jackson County) and Shelby (Richland County).

Split cities and fringe areas

City limits and utility boundaries don't always line up, so neighboring businesses can have different rights:

City	How it's split
Fremont	Divided between AEP Ohio and Toledo Edison; the city runs separate aggregation programs for each
Springfield	Ohio Edison serves the city; AES Ohio serves other parts of Clark County
Van Wert	Mostly AEP Ohio; AES Ohio serves parts of the surrounding county
Defiance	Toledo Edison serves the city; AEP Ohio and cooperatives serve parts of the county
Fostoria	AEP Ohio serves the city; North Central Electric Cooperative and Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative serve some fringe areas
North Ridgeville	Mostly Ohio Edison; some listings place part of the city in Illuminating Company territory

In every one of these cases, the bill for the specific address decides — not the mailing address or the city name.

How to tell who serves an address

Read the bill. The company that bills you for delivery is your provider. If it's a city department or a co-op, supplier choice doesn't apply. If it's one of the six investor-owned utilities, you can shop.
Check PUCO's maps. PUCO publishes an electric certified-territories mapping application and a separate map of electric systems it doesn't regulate (municipal systems and co-ops).
For a new site, ask the seller or landlord for a recent bill before you sign. It tells you who serves the building and whether generation is shoppable.
For multi-site businesses, sort accounts by provider first. Only the investor-owned-utility accounts can go into a supplier bid.

What businesses in municipal and co-op areas can do

Lever	What to do
Rate schedule review	Get your provider's commercial tariffs and ask it to confirm you're on the schedule that best fits your size and load shape. With generation off the table, the rate class is the main pricing decision you control.
Demand charges	Many business schedules bill peak kW. Staggering equipment start-ups and controlling short spikes lowers the charge — see demand charges explained.
Power factor	If your tariff bills kVA or adjusts for power factor, capacitor banks or equipment fixes can pay back — see power factor correction.
Efficiency	Lighting, HVAC controls and compressed-air fixes cut kWh and kW. Ask whether your provider runs its own efficiency or load-management programs; these are set locally.
On-site generation	PUCO's net-metering rule applies to the investor-owned utilities. Municipal systems and co-ops set their own interconnection and net-metering terms, so get them in writing before sizing solar or storage. Rural small businesses may qualify for USDA REAP guaranteed loans (new grants paused since April 1, 2026); federal credits changed in 2025, so confirm with a tax adviser.
Key-accounts contact	Call the city utility's key-accounts or economic development staff, or your co-op's member services, about expansions, new load and billing options before you commit to equipment.
Governance	Municipal rates are set locally by the city; co-op members elect the co-op's board. Both are venues where business customers can weigh in.

FAQ

Can a broker get my Westerville or Hamilton business a lower generation rate?

No. Customers of a municipal electric system can't buy generation from a competitive supplier. The savings levers are your rate schedule, demand, power factor and efficiency.

Can a municipal or co-op account join a community aggregation program?

No. Governmental aggregation buys generation for accounts on the investor-owned utilities. Clean Energy Columbus, for example, excludes Columbus Division of Power accounts.

If my building is inside a city with a municipal utility, am I automatically a municipal customer?

Not always. In Cleveland and Columbus the municipal system serves only parts of the city, and boundaries elsewhere don't always match city limits. Check the bill for the exact address.

How do I know if I'm in cooperative territory?

Your bill will come from a co-op such as South Central Power Company or Union Rural Electric Cooperative. PUCO's certified-territory map shows the boundaries; co-op territory exists in 77 of Ohio's 88 counties.

Can I install solar if I'm served by a co-op or city utility?

That depends on the provider's own interconnection and net-metering rules, which apply instead of PUCO's. Get the terms in writing before you size a system.