Hotel & Motel Electricity Costs in Ohio: 2026 Buying Guide

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

How much electricity do hotels and motels use?

CBECS 2018 puts hotels at about 13.0 kWh per square foot per year and motels or inns at about 15.3.

Illustrative site	Annual use	Est. peak demand	Est. capacity tag	Capacity cost at 2026/27 price	Value of 0.5¢/kWh
25,000 ft²	325,000 kWh	62 kW	53 kW	$6,315/yr (≈1.9¢/kWh)	$1,625/yr
60,000 ft²	780,000 kWh	148 kW	126 kW	$15,156/yr (≈1.9¢/kWh)	$3,900/yr
120,000 ft²	1.56 million kWh	297 kW	252 kW	$30,311/yr (≈1.9¢/kWh)	$7,800/yr

How these numbers are built: annual use = 13.0 kWh/ft² (EIA CBECS 2018 Table C22, hotel (mean; median 12.8)). Peak demand assumes a 60% load factor; the capacity tag assumes 85% of that peak falls in the grid's summer peak hours. Capacity cost uses PJM's 2026/27 clearing price of $329.17/MW-day (about $120 per kW-year) before utility scaling factors. These are illustrations for sizing a decision — your own bills and interval data are what suppliers price.

Where the electricity goes

In EIA’s lodging category, ventilation is the largest electric end use (about 25%), followed by lighting (15%), cooling (12%) and refrigeration (8%). Guest-room PTAC units, corridor ventilation, laundry and kitchens drive the rest.

When the load peaks — and why that matters for price

Hotels operate 168 hours a week. Load rises with occupancy and weather — summer weekend evenings with a full house are the classic peak — and conference or event days add kitchen and ballroom HVAC on top.

In Ohio's PJM market, the capacity part of your generation cost is set by how much you use during the grid's few highest summer peak hours. With a 60% load factor and about 85% of the site peak landing in those hours, capacity alone works out to roughly 1.9¢ per kWh at the 2026/27 price of $329.17/MW-day — compared with about 0.2¢ at the 2024/25 price of $28.92. That jump, not the energy price, explains most of the 2025–2026 increase in Ohio business electricity bills.

How hotels and motels in Ohio buy electricity

Revenue swings with occupancy, so most owners prefer a fixed price with a wide volume bandwidth. Franchise hotels owned by one group often combine several properties in one supplier contract even when they sit in different utility territories.

If you…	Usually consider
need a fixed monthly budget	a 12–36 month fixed price with capacity included (fixed vs variable)
can move load away from summer peak hours	a product that passes capacity through at cost, so reducing your capacity tag lowers your bill
use more than 700,000 kWh a year at a site	an interval-data RFP, block-and-index structures, and HB 15's behind-the-meter options
are 700,000 kWh a year or less and never chose a supplier	first check whether you're already in a community aggregation program

Ohio rules that affect this industry

Hotels in municipal-utility cities (Hamilton, Westerville and others) cannot shop supply; the capacity-tag and demand strategies still apply.
Supplier choice applies to customers of AEP Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio, AES Ohio, Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison. Municipal-utility and electric-cooperative customers generally can't choose a supplier.
Ohio does not charge sales tax on electricity; the per-kWh excise tax does appear on bills.
As of 2026, Ohio's utilities do not offer general business efficiency rebates, so upgrades must pay back on bill savings (plus any federal tax treatment).
Under HB 15 (effective August 14, 2025), suppliers must send two notices before a fixed-rate contract rolls to a variable rate — but only to accounts with demand of 25 kW or less. Larger sites should track their own expiration dates.

Ways hotels and motels cut electricity costs

Use guest-room occupancy controls (key-card or sensor-based) to set back PTACs in unoccupied rooms.
Put corridor and back-of-house ventilation on schedules tied to occupancy rather than 24/7 fixed speed.
Convert parking-lot, corridor and exterior lighting to LED with controls; these run the longest hours.
Schedule laundry to avoid summer late-afternoon hours when the building is already near its peak.

Hotels & motels by Ohio metro

Single-site cost models by city and multi-site buying guides by county:

FAQ

How much electricity does a hotel use per room?

It varies widely with amenities; start from CBECS’s 13.0 kWh per square foot for hotels and your own bills. A 60,000 ft² limited-service hotel would use roughly 780,000 kWh a year at that average.

Why do hotels need volume bandwidth in an electricity contract?

Occupancy changes monthly usage. A contract with a narrow usage band can bill you for swings outside the band.

Yes — a supplier can price a portfolio together, but each meter keeps its own utility and delivery charges.

Sources

Operating evidence for the next contract

For hotels & motels, an electricity quote should reflect the actual operation rather than a generic business category. Give the reviewer the opening schedule, continuously required systems, planned equipment changes and the responsible legal customer. A national building benchmark can frame a question, but cannot prove the usage or saving at your facility.

Evidence to review	Decision it supports
Current operating schedule and required service levels	Identify whether the quoted load shape represents the next term, rather than last year’s business
Equipment and controls associated with hotel operations	Separate a procurement question from an engineering or maintenance question
A committed expansion, closure or tenant/ownership change	Review usage tolerance, assignment and site add/delete rights before signing
Written supply inclusions and exclusions	Distinguish an energy-only offer from a product that includes capacity or other components

Separate safe operating changes from price decisions

Use an appropriate facility specialist to validate technical changes. Schedule laundry to avoid summer late-afternoon hours when the building is already near its peak. Treat that as a potential review item, not a guaranteed saving or permission to alter safety-critical settings. Medical, food, process and temperature requirements take precedence over an energy target.

Retain a base case without assumed rebates or unapproved tax benefits. If a project materially changes electricity use, ask the supplier how it affects the contract rather than silently carrying the old consumption profile forward. A lower supply price and reduced consumption are separate effects and should not be counted twice.

Keep the bid review practical

Compare at least the proposed start date, included components, monthly fees, renewal clause, exit rules and the treatment of expected load changes. Ask who is responsible for enrollment and what happens if a meter cannot switch on the expected date. An adviser should be able to explain why staying on the current arrangement may be appropriate.

The browser-only comparison tools keep inputs private. Start an Ohio electricity inquiry with the utility and question, without bills or account identifiers. For the common vocabulary behind the comparison, consult PUCO’s bill definitions.