Standard Service Offer shopping on Energy Choice Ohio
Retail electric choice here is a decision to leave the Standard Service Offer, not a mandatory REP assignment. If you take no action, AEP Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio, AES Ohio, or the correct FirstEnergy operating company continues to supply generation at the SSO while it also delivers. A PUCO-certified supplier can replace that generation line only.
The official comparison tool is Energy Choice Ohio. Start at https://energychoice.ohio.gov/ or the Apples to Apples view at https://www.energychoice.ohio.gov/ApplesToApples.aspx. PUCO explains the program at https://puco.ohio.gov/utilities/electricity/resources/energy-choice-ohio. Offers are listed by utility tab, not by metropolitan area name.
Columbus and Cleveland city pages show AEP Ohio and Illuminating Company bills in local detail, but statewide the first question is which tab you are on. An AEP Ohio SSO is not an Ohio Edison SSO. Selecting the wrong tab is the most common quoting error for multi-county owners.
After a supplier switch, the certified electric utility still delivers and restores outages. SSO remains the default product name if you return to utility supply. Do not describe SSO as a TDU pass-through; it is default generation, sitting next to delivery riders you cannot shop away.
Columbia Gas, Dominion, Duke, and Vectren commodity choice
Gas choice is a parallel market with its own Apples to Apples gas tabs. Columbia Gas of Ohio covers a wide statewide LDC footprint. Dominion Energy Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio gas, and Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio serve other regions. Each LDC publishes its own default commodity benchmark.
A Cincinnati-area Duke electric-and-gas pair looks convenient because the brand matches, but electric SSO and gas commodity are still separate products with separate switch orders. Do not assume one supplier confirmation covers both meters unless the paperwork names both commodities and both account numbers.
Dryer-heavy stores should shop gas with the same discipline as electric: match the LDC tab, match the commercial class, and keep leak-response with the LDC. Marketer enrollment does not move emergency response off the utility. Delivery of therms stays on the LDC tariff.
If a location sits on a municipal gas system or an exempt utility, there may be no marketer choice. Confirm the LDC name on the bill before you promise dual-fuel shopping. PUCO at https://puco.ohio.gov/ is the regulator home page for both electric and gas choice rules.
AEP Ohio, FirstEnergy opcos, Duke, AES Ohio, and exempt munis
AEP Ohio covers a large central and southern wires footprint that includes Columbus-area investor-owned meters. The Illuminating Company covers the Cleveland core. Ohio Edison covers Akron and other northeast counties. Toledo Edison covers the northwest. Duke Energy Ohio covers the Cincinnati area. AES Ohio covers the Dayton area.
Those FirstEnergy operating companies must stay on separate Apples to Apples tabs. A Cleveland Illuminating SSO cannot price an Akron Ohio Edison store. Holding-company branding on a truck or a website is not a rate class. The bill header controls.
Municipal electric systems and cooperatives are generally exempt from PUCO retail choice. A store inside a municipal utility buys bundled supply and delivery from that muni. Do not drop those accounts into Energy Choice Ohio workbooks. Address-level proof beats a city name on the lease.
County aggregation programs can default eligible accounts to a selected supplier with opt-out windows. Before you quote 'leaving SSO,' verify whether the laundry is already on aggregation supply. Aggregation is not the same as SSO, and it is not the same as a bilateral supplier contract you signed yourself.
Matching GS-1 or GS-2 to the correct Apples to Apples utility tab
Commercial class codes drive the comparison. AEP Ohio GS-1 and GS-2 appear as different shopping rows. Other utilities use their own general-service labels. If you shop the wrong class, the SSO benchmark and the supplier offer are not apples to apples—even if you clicked the right utility tab.
Split the bill into SSO or supplier generation versus delivery before you rank offers. Distribution, transmission, and riders stay with the certified utility. A supplier that 'beats SSO' on generation can still sit on a bill whose delivery rose. Hold delivery constant when you compare.
Consolidated invoices keep the utility logo on the envelope. The supplier name appears on the generation line after enrollment. Dual bills, when used, mean two envelopes. Either format, AEP Ohio or Duke still rolls the outage truck. Train night staff on that split.
Pull the rate code from the bill header or the utility online account, not from memory of a prior store. A Cleveland city-page CEI example does not label a Toledo Edison GS account. Energy Choice Ohio will not correct a mistyped class; it will simply show the wrong stack of offers.
Lake Erie winters, interior humidity, and dual-fuel dryer plants
Northern stores on The Illuminating Company or Toledo Edison see winter gas-dryer and heating therms stack on Columbia Gas, Dominion, or another LDC. Interior AEP Ohio and AES Ohio stores add humid-summer cooling on the electric meter. Use each store's history; do not publish a statewide kWh or therm average as if it were your load.
Washer and lighting baseload is relatively steady. HVAC and makeup air swing with weather. Gas dryers swing with both throughput and inlet-air temperature. A supplier product that ignores demand ratchets on GS-2 can surprise a store that added a large water heater or a second dryer bank mid-term.
PIPP PLUS is a percentage-of-income utility program. Those accounts cannot shop competitive suppliers on Energy Choice Ohio. If you acquire a store and the electric account is on PIPP PLUS, do not enroll a supplier. Confirm program status with the utility before you issue an LOA.
Contract timing should respect SSO reset and aggregation opt-out calendars. Starting a twelve-month supplier term the week before an aggregation mailing creates avoidable confusion. Columbus and Cleveland city pages show local load color; statewide, calendar the utility tab and the program status first.
Cleveland Illuminating, Akron Ohio Edison, and Cincinnati Duke mix-ups
Northeast portfolios routinely mix The Illuminating Company and Ohio Edison. Those are different Apples to Apples tabs and different SSO values. A supplier confirmation that says 'FirstEnergy' without the opco name is incomplete. Cleveland city-page context does not price Akron.
Cincinnati Duke electric-and-gas stores still need two benchmarks. AES Ohio Dayton meters are a third investor-owned island. Toledo Edison is a fourth. Copying an AEP Ohio GS-2 offer onto any of those tabs will misstate both SSO and delivery.
Municipal and cooperative holes sit next to investor-owned feeders around many metros. A lease that says Columbus or Cleveland is not proof of AEP Ohio or Illuminating Company service. Check the bill and the utility's service-area tool before you sign a multi-site contract.
Letters of Authorization should name the utility, the account number, the rate class, and the commodity. Portfolio LOAs that say 'all Ohio stores' are how a PIPP PLUS account or a municipal meter gets swept into a competitive enrollment that the rules do not allow.
Energy Choice checklist including PIPP PLUS and aggregation
Identify the exact electric utility and gas LDC on page one. Open the matching tab at https://energychoice.ohio.gov/ or https://www.energychoice.ohio.gov/ApplesToApples.aspx. If the store is municipal, cooperative, or PIPP PLUS, stop—choice may be unavailable.
Match GS-1 or GS-2 (or the utility's equivalent) before you rank certified-supplier offers against SSO. Split generation from delivery on the sample bills. For gas, use the Columbia Gas, Dominion, Duke, or Vectren tab that matches the dryer meter.
Ask whether the account is on county or municipal aggregation. If it is, read the opt-out notice before you treat SSO as the current default. After any switch, the certified utility still delivers. Spot-check the first two invoices and post the utility outage number for staff.
Keep one workbook tab per operating company. Never reuse a Cleveland Illuminating quote on Ohio Edison or a Columbus AEP Ohio quote on Duke. Re-verify PIPP PLUS and aggregation at acquisition closing so a seller's 'we already shopped' claim matches the bill.
- Open the exact Apples to Apples utility tab, not a metro name.
- Match GS-1 or GS-2 on the bill header to the portal row.
- Split SSO or supplier generation from utility delivery riders.
- Exclude PIPP PLUS accounts from supplier enrollment.
- Screen municipal and cooperative meters before quoting choice.
- Check county aggregation opt-out status before calling the current product SSO.
- Use separate gas tabs for Columbia Gas, Dominion, Duke, and Vectren.
