Ohio Price to Compare for Businesses: Use the Right Benchmark
The short answer
Your price to compare is a benchmark for the supply portion of electricity, not your total business bill. Use the current figure and rate schedule for your own account. A residential rate, a statewide commercial average and a supplier advertisement answer different questions; none automatically establishes what your business should pay.
Ohio's PUCO bill glossary distinguishes generation supply from delivery and defines the price to compare. AEP Ohio's business guidance explains its comparison using generation charges and usage. Start with those definitions, then check the account's applicable tariff and offer details.
Establish what you have before comparing anything
Write down the delivery utility, business rate schedule, billing dates and current supply arrangement. A supplier name on the bill may mean an individual contract or a governmental aggregation program. Utility default service is a different arrangement. The amount you currently pay to a supplier is not necessarily the amount you would pay if you returned to default service.
The account's utility matters more than a city name or ZIP code. An AEP Ohio account in Columbus and a Columbus municipal-electric account have different purchasing options. A business served by a municipal utility or cooperative generally cannot enroll with a competitive retail electricity supplier. Read the municipal and cooperative guide before asking suppliers to quote those meters.
Where to look for each Ohio utility
| Delivery company | Account-specific check | Comparison trap |
|---|---|---|
| AEP Ohio | Identify the business schedule and generation components; consult the utility's business-choice guidance. | Applying a residential reference to a commercial account. |
| Duke Energy Ohio | Identify the applicable business schedule, usage blocks and effective dates. | Treating the first block of a tiered schedule as the average for all usage. |
| AES Ohio | Use the bill's account-specific charges and current utility calculation guidance. | Assuming every secondary-service customer has the same effective price. |
| Ohio Edison | Confirm the relevant rate class and current price-to-compare components. | Reusing an annual reference without checking the billing period. |
| The Illuminating Company | Confirm the utility on the bill, particularly in the Cleveland area. | Confusing a Cleveland Public Power meter with an investor-owned utility meter. |
| Toledo Edison | Match the actual business class, dates and supply arrangement. | Treating a regional or residential average as an executable commercial offer. |
If the bill does not give you a clear comparable figure, ask the utility or adviser which charges belong in it. Do not divide the entire bill by kWh and call the result a supply rate: that includes charges a supplier switch may not change.
Compare identical components, not just identical units
Two prices expressed in cents per kWh can cover different things. Ask whether each includes energy, capacity, transmission, ancillary services and broker compensation. Determine which charges can change and under what clauses. Some contracts use a fixed energy component with other costs passed through. Others bundle more components into the advertised price.
A “fixed” label is not a substitute for the agreement. Read material-change, tax, law-change, capacity-adjustment and usage-tolerance language. Ask the supplier to identify exceptions in writing. The best comparison is an offer matrix with an explicit inclusion/exclusion column, a price-expiry timestamp, start and end dates, and the applicable meter list. See contract pitfalls for the questions to ask before signing.
Time changes the benchmark
Default-service prices and tariff riders can change. A posted annual average does not guarantee what you will pay in a particular month, and today's default price does not establish the default price for the next three years. A multi-year fixed offer exchanges some exposure to future supply-price movements for its contractual price and obligations; it is not automatically a savings product.
Keep the effective period next to every numerical reference. Historical figures can explain a past bill or a market development, but they should not be presented as live quotes. When a source or reference period expires, obtain a current account-specific comparison rather than assuming it remains available. This guide deliberately avoids presenting residential figures as commercial shopping benchmarks.
A worked example with explicit assumptions
Assume a hypothetical business uses 120,000 kWh over a year. Its supplied benchmark is 9.40 cents/kWh and a comparable offer is 9.10 cents/kWh. At unchanged usage and with the same included components, the gross annual difference is:
120,000 × (9.40 − 9.10) ÷ 100 = $360.
If the offer adds a $20 monthly fee not already included in its rate, the annual fee is $240 and the remaining modeled difference is $120. An early-termination charge or excluded supply component could erase that difference. Delivery and other unchanged bill components are outside this calculation. These inputs are illustrative assumptions, not current Ohio prices, a documented customer outcome or a prediction.
Use the private offer-comparison tool to substitute your own values. It sends no figures to the inquiry form. For tiered usage schedules or time-varying products, a single average comparison may be inadequate; model the actual billing structure with interval or billing-period data instead.
Capacity is one component, not your retail rate
PJM's wholesale capacity auctions are reported in dollars per megawatt-day. A retail offer is generally expressed in cents per kilowatt-hour and may also include other charges. A capacity auction result cannot be substituted directly for a retail rate.
PJM reported a $333.44/MW-day clearing price for the 2027/28 delivery year and $325/MW-day for 2028/29. These are delivery-year wholesale results, not offers for your business. The account's obligation, scaling factors and contract treatment determine its exposure. A fixed-price comparison must therefore establish whether capacity is included, adjusted or passed through. See PJM's 2027/28 announcement and 2028/29 announcement.
A decision packet you can actually use
Before accepting an offer, put the current contract, a recent complete bill, a twelve-month usage history and planned operating changes together privately. Identify the legal customer and service locations. Record the renewal and cancellation rules from the signed contract. Ask who will confirm enrollment and how an unsuccessful or delayed switch will be handled.
Do not email confidential account numbers to obtain general guidance. The first inquiry only needs your business, utility and question. Document collection can follow through an appropriate method after contact. A review should be able to conclude that shopping does not currently fit the account; there is no obligation to switch.
FAQ
Is the price to compare the same as my total electricity cost?
No. It concerns supply. Distribution, other tariff-based charges and applicable taxes also contribute to the bill. Compare the same included components before calculating savings.
Can I use a residential comparison rate for my shop or plant?
No. Use the business account's applicable schedule and billing information. An advertised residential reference does not establish a commercial price.
Does a lower supply price guarantee lower annual costs?
No. Fees, usage, exclusions, demand, tariff changes and contract obligations can change the result. A modeled supply difference is only one part of the decision.
Do you need my bill attachment in the first request?
No. Ask the question first, without an attachment or account number. Document sharing can be arranged after contact.