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Ohio · Electric and gas

Duke Energy Ohio's Price to Compare: how to find yours

By Dr. Matthew Crowley

· 6 min read

Checked against: Apples to Apples (energychoice.ohio.gov). How we get our prices

This guide is about Ohio. Judy checks bills in 18 states. Find your state's rules

If you live in the Cincinnati area and get power from Duke Energy Ohio, you may have noticed something odd. Other Ohio utilities print one Price to Compare on the bill. Duke works a little differently.

Here is what Duke's Price to Compare is, why yours may not match your neighbor's, and how to find your own number before you look at any offer.

Duke's current standard price is on our Duke Energy Ohio Price to Compare page, and its gas price on the Duke Energy Ohio gas SSO page.

What the Price to Compare is

The Price to Compare is the price a supplier has to beat for you to save. A supplier is a company that sells you the electricity itself. Duke still delivers it, reads your meter and fixes outages.

Duke Energy Ohio describes its Price to Compare as "the annual amount that you no longer pay to Duke Energy Ohio when you choose another generation provider divided by the kilowatt-hours you consume on a yearly basis."

In plain words: add up a year of the charges that would go away if you had a supplier. Divide by the electricity you used that year. That's your price to beat, in cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). A kWh is one unit of electricity.

Why yours can be different

Because it's worked out from a full year of your own use, Duke's Price to Compare isn't one number for every home. Duke shows a table of average figures for different amounts of yearly use, with separate figures for homes that heat with electricity. Duke says your own number "may be higher or lower than the amounts shown" in that table.

So if a salesperson quotes "Duke's price," ask: "Whose? For how much use?"

How to work out your own

Duke has a calculator on its Price to Compare page. Here's how to use it:

  1. Find your last 12 months of use. Duke says it "appears at the bottom of your Duke Energy electric bill." Write down each month's kWh.
  2. Open Duke's Price to Compare page and enter those 12 numbers.
  3. Select Calculate. Duke says the result "is the price that a supplier must beat (in cents per kWh) for you to save money."

Keep that number next to you when you read any offer.

Duke's calculator is for homes on its regular home rate, called Rate RS. If your bill shows a different rate, Duke says to call or email it for your number.

How to check an offer with it

Duke gives a simple way to estimate a year's savings:

  1. Take your Price to Compare and subtract the supplier's price per kWh.
  2. Multiply by the kWh you use in a year.

Both prices are in cents, so the answer is in cents too. Divide it by 100 to turn it into dollars.

Then take away any monthly fee times 12. If what's left is small, or below zero, the offer isn't worth it.

The Price to Compare moves

Duke's standard price comes from power Duke buys at auctions, and Duke says your Price to Compare "may change quarterly." A fixed offer that beats it today may not beat it later, or may beat it by more.

You can see Duke's latest standard price, and any change that's been posted, on our Duke Energy Ohio electric page and its what changes next page. I don't type prices into my guides, because they go out of date.

Gas from Duke too?

Many Duke Energy Ohio homes get gas from Duke as well. The PUCO calls Duke's standard gas price the Standard Service Offer. Duke says it sets its gas prices "on a monthly basis." It's priced per Ccf (100 cubic feet). See our Duke Energy Ohio gas page and Why your Ohio gas price changes every month.

Your electric choice and your gas choice are separate. You can have a supplier for one, both or neither.

Questions to ask any seller

The Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC) suggests questions like these. I added the one about a monthly fee:

  • Is the price fixed or variable? If variable, how often can it change?
  • Is there a teaser price? What comes after it?
  • Is there a monthly fee?
  • Is there a fee to leave early?
  • What happens when the contract ends? Does it renew on its own?

The State of Ohio lists offers for the Duke area on Energy Choice Ohio (opens a new tab). My guide How to use Apples to Apples in Ohio shows how to read the list.

If you sign up and change your mind

For electric, Ohio gives you seven days from the postmark on your utility's confirmation letter to cancel. Call Duke, not the supplier. For gas, Ohio's rule gives you seven business days.

Who to call

  • Duke Energy Ohio: 1-800-544-6900
  • Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO): 1-800-686-7826
  • Ohio Consumers' Counsel: 1-877-742-5622

Judy Saves is independent. I don't sell electricity or gas, and no supplier pays me. I'll never call you or knock on your door.

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