Energy choice · Ohio
Ohio Energy Choice: how the program works and whether it's worth using
First find out whether your town already put you on an aggregation supplier — that changes the whole question. After that, Ohio's official chart is usable if you read past the intro rate.
What Ohio Energy Choice actually is
Ohio Energy Choice is the state's retail electricity choice program, created when Ohio deregulated its electricity market in 1999 and administered by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). It lets residential and small-business customers buy the supply portion of their electricity from a certified retail electric supplier (CRES) instead of their utility's default Standard Service Offer (SSO). Your utility — AEP Ohio, Ohio Edison, Duke Energy Ohio, AES Ohio, The Illuminating Company, or Toledo Edison — keeps delivering the power, reading the meter, and restoring outages no matter who supplies it.
The program is voluntary in both directions: do nothing and you stay on the SSO; switch and you can generally return to the SSO within a billing cycle or two. The official comparison tool is PUCO's Apples to Apples at energychoice.ohio.gov — every certified supplier's current offer, next to your utility's SSO.
Government aggregation: the Ohio twist most people miss
Ohio is unusual in how heavily it uses government aggregation: cities, townships, and counties can negotiate a bulk electricity contract for all their residents and enroll them automatically (opt-out). Hundreds of Ohio communities have done this — which means a large share of Ohioans are already on a third-party supplier without ever having chosen one.
Before comparing any offer, check your bill's supplier line. If it names a company you don't recognize alongside your community's name, you're likely on an aggregation. Aggregation rates are often decent — they were negotiated in bulk — but they're not automatically better than the current SSO, especially after the 2025–26 PJM capacity spike moved the SSO benchmarks. The same comparison rule applies: fixed rate vs. today's SSO, no fees, no exit penalty.
Check your own bill first (2 minutes, free)
Find the supply rate on your bill and compare it to your utility's Standard Service Offer. If a supplier is charging more, you're overpaying for identical electricity — and you can switch back. Our audit runs on your device; we never see your numbers, and we never try to switch you.
Check my rateHow choice works in Ohio
Your utility always handles delivery — the wires and the outages — and you can't shop that part. What you can shop is the supply: the electricity itself. Do nothing and you stay on the default rate, the Standard Service Offer (SSO). Your utility's Standard Service Offer is set by auction and changes periodically, so the rate you're comparing against moves over time.
Ohio's official, commission-run resource is Energy Choice Ohio. It's a neutral, no-commission comparison tool — the only place worth shopping. One catch: it shows a plan's intro rate, not the variable rate it can roll into later, so read the contract's terms box before you sign.
- Check your bill before you do anything else: many Ohio cities and counties auto-enroll residents into a community-chosen supplier (government aggregation, opt-out). You may already be on a third-party supplier and not realize it.
- Energy Choice Ohio's apples-to-apples chart is decent — but it shows the intro rate, not the variable rate a plan rolls into after the teaser ends.
Step-by-step: we wrote a full guide to using Apples to Apples — what each column means, the three contract terms to check, and the math to do before switching. Read the Apples to Apples guide →
Ohio's utilities — the rate to beat
This is the Standard Service Offer for each Ohio utility we track — the number a supplier offer has to beat. A "deal" above these is costing you money for the same electricity.
| Utility | SSO | Last reviewed |
|---|---|---|
| AEP Ohio | 10.12¢/kWh | |
| Duke Energy Ohio | 10.7¢/kWh | |
| Ohio Edison (FirstEnergy) | 10.83¢/kWh | |
| AES Ohio | 10.86¢/kWh | |
| Toledo Edison (FirstEnergy) | 11¢/kWh | |
| The Illuminating Company (FirstEnergy) | 11.11¢/kWh |
Rates change on a schedule — always confirm the current figure on your bill or your utility's site before deciding.
Before you shop, know the traps
The same handful of tactics show up in every choice state: a teaser rate that flips to a variable one, an early-termination fee paired with a variable rate, monthly fees hiding behind a low headline rate, green-energy upsells, and "your utility sent me" pitches at the door. We break down each one — and the rule that cuts through all of them — in the main guide.
Read the full traps breakdown →Common questions
- Is it worth switching electricity suppliers in Ohio?
- First find out whether your town already put you on an aggregation supplier — that changes the whole question. After that, Ohio's official chart is usable if you read past the intro rate. The only offer worth taking is a fixed rate, for the full term, with no monthly fee, that beats your Standard Service Offer — and you compare it on Energy Choice Ohio, not off a phone or door pitch.
- What is the Standard Service Offer in Ohio?
- It's the per-kWh rate your utility charges for default electricity supply — the SSO — and it's the number any supplier offer has to beat to actually save you money. Your utility buys that power at a wholesale auction and bills it through with no markup. Your utility's Standard Service Offer is set by auction and changes periodically, so the rate you're comparing against moves over time.
- Will switching suppliers in Ohio change my service or reliability?
- No. Your utility still owns the wires, reads your meter, and handles outages regardless of who supplies your electricity. Switching only changes the supply line on your bill, and if a supplier goes out of business you're moved back to the default rate automatically.
- What is the energy choice program in Ohio?
- Ohio Energy Choice is the PUCO-administered program that lets residential and small-business customers choose a certified retail electric supplier (CRES) for the supply portion of their bill. Your utility continues to handle delivery, billing, and outages. Ohio deregulated in 1999; customers who don't shop stay on their utility's default Standard Service Offer (SSO). The official comparison tool is Apples to Apples at energychoice.ohio.gov.
- Is the Ohio Energy Choice program legitimate?
- Yes — energychoice.ohio.gov is run by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO), the state's utility regulator. What deserves more skepticism is marketing that borrows the program's name: door-to-door or phone pitches claiming to be 'from Energy Choice Ohio' or 'from your utility.' PUCO runs a comparison website; it does not send salespeople. Verify any offer on the official site before signing.
- What is government aggregation in Ohio?
- Government aggregation lets Ohio cities, townships, and counties negotiate a bulk electricity supply contract for their residents and enroll them automatically (opt-out aggregation). Hundreds of Ohio communities do this, so many Ohioans are on a third-party supplier without having chosen one. You can opt out at any time and either return to your utility's SSO or pick your own supplier. Check your bill's supplier line to see if you're on an aggregation.
- Who has the cheapest electricity in Ohio right now?
- Among the default Standard Service Offers (June 2026): AEP Ohio is lowest at 10.12¢/kWh, followed by Toledo Edison (10.22¢), Duke Energy Ohio (10.70¢), Ohio Edison and The Illuminating Company (10.83¢), and AES Ohio (10.86¢) — supply only, per PUCO's Apples to Apples. Whether a competitive supplier beats your utility's SSO depends on current offers at energychoice.ohio.gov — compare fixed-rate offers only.
RateWatchdog takes no supplier commissions and never enrolls or switches anyone. See the full energy-choice guide →