What Is the "Price to Compare" on Your Electric Bill?

The letter with a price on it

Say a letter in your mailbox offers you electricity at 9 cents a kilowatt hour. By the end of this video, you'll know where to find the Price to Compare on your bill. You'll also know how to hold any offer up against it, dollar to dollar, before you say yes.

But you've got the letter in one hand and your bill in the other. In Ohio and Pennsylvania, your bill may show a number that's very useful when someone offers you a new price.

So first, I'll show you the one number to check it against. Then I'll show you why a deal that beats it today can lose to it down the road.

Where the number hides

Let's start with where that one number lives on your bill. It's called the Price to Compare. It's your utility's own price for the electricity itself, counted per kilowatt hour. A kilowatt hour is one unit of electricity.

On this sample AEP Ohio bill, it sits just below the total amount due. Say it reads 12 cents a kilowatt hour.

Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison put it in the messages area on the first page. In Pennsylvania, PPL's sample bill has a box on page one that says to use it when comparing offers. In Illinois, the bill may not print a line called Price to Compare at all. There, you'd add the supply charge and the transmission charge, or look the number up on Plug In Illinois.

If you can't find it, Judy Saves' free bill check shows your Price to Compare next to your own price. Later, I'll show you the real AEP Ohio number and which way it just moved.

It's not your whole bill

Now that you've found the number, let's see which part of your bill it covers. In Ohio and Pennsylvania, the electric bill has two main parts. The first is supply, the electricity itself, and that's what the Price to Compare covers.

The second is delivery, which pays for the wires, poles and meter. Delivery stays with your utility no matter who sets your electricity price. Say your bill is 150 dollars, and say 75 of that is supply. Only that supply part could change if you switch. In Pennsylvania, the state's utility board says supply can be about half of a total bill, or more. So switching could lower your bill, but it won't make the delivery part go away.

If you'd like a second pair of eyes, Judy Saves has a free bill check at judysaves.com. It reads your bill, compares it with every plan in your area, and tells you roughly how much a year you could save.

Dollar to dollar, fees and all

Now that you know what it covers, let's hold an offer next to it. Make sure both prices are per kilowatt hour.

This sample bill is handy, because it shows a supplier's price and the Price to Compare side by side. Say the supplier charges 9 cents and the Price to Compare is 12, so you'd pay 3 cents less per kilowatt hour. Say you use a thousand kilowatt hours in a month, and that could be about 30 dollars less on the supply part.

Before you say yes, ask how long the price lasts, and whether it's fixed or variable. A fixed price stays the same for the contract, but a variable one can change, sometimes every month. Then ask about a monthly fee or a fee to cancel. Say an offer could save you 5 dollars a month but charges a 5 dollar monthly fee, and you'd save nothing at all.

The number moves

That comparison only holds for today, because the Price to Compare moves. Earlier I promised you the real AEP Ohio number, so here it is. As of October 2026, the Price to Compare for AEP Ohio is a bit over 10 cents a kilowatt hour. That's down from about 11 cents before. By the time you watch this, it may have changed again, so check your newest bill. Some offers come in under that price and some over it, so your letter's offer could land either way.

Here's why that matters, with round example numbers. Say you lock in a fixed price of 11 cents. Then say the Price to Compare drops to 10 cents. Now your locked price costs more than the Price to Compare. That's how a deal can beat it today and lose later, like I promised. If the Price to Compare goes up instead, a fixed price could win.

In Ohio, it can change a few times a year. In Pennsylvania, utilities usually change it twice a year. In Illinois, it changes on two set dates each year. So look at your newest bill, not an old one.

Let Judy keep an eye on it

So let's go back to that letter in your mailbox. Find the Price to Compare on your bill, and remember it covers only the supply part. Then compare it with the offer, kilowatt hour to kilowatt hour, and keep an eye on the date of the next change. Say that letter offers 9 cents a kilowatt hour. Hold that offer up against your own Price to Compare, ask how long it lasts and about fees, and only then decide. That's what I promised you at the start.

Judy Saves reads your electric bill, then checks every price your state lists for your area. It tells you if a different price plan could save you money. If your plan is already good, it tells you to keep it.

If you'd like Judy Saves to do that math for you, start with the free bill check at judysaves.com. New members can use code HEYJUDY for the first month free.