Ohio · Updated August 31, 2026

The average electric bill in Ohio

Verified August 31, 2026. Source: EIA Form 861, 2024 average monthly bill by state. Reviewed at the start of each month.

Ohio against its neighbours

Two numbers make up any bill — how much power you use, and what you pay per unit. States differ on both, and the bill is the product of the two rather than a reflection of either.

Michigan is the clearest illustration. It has the highest rate in this group at 19.30¢ and the lowest bill at $119.31, because its households use a third less electricity than Ohio's. A high rate does not have to mean a high bill, and a low rate does not protect you from one.

Ohio comes in below the US average on both measures — 15.99¢ against 16.48¢, and $135.16 against $142.26. If you came here expecting to find that Ohio is expensive, the state-level data does not support it. What that leaves is the question of whether your own bill is high for Ohio.

Why the average is a weak benchmark

The 135.16 figure is an annual average across 5.1 million customers, four utilities, every house size and every rate plan in the state. Three things it hides:

• —Season. A household with electric heat or central air can use two or three times as much in January or July as in April. Comparing a January bill to an annual average will always look alarming.
• —Heating fuel. A home heated with natural gas has a much lower electric bill and a gas bill the average does not include. Comparing an all-electric home to the state average compares two different things.
• —Utility territory. Default supply rates across Ohio's four utilities run from 9.38¢ to 13.33¢ per kWh — a spread of more than 40% on the supply half of the bill, before delivery.

A better test than the average

Rather than comparing your bill to a state figure, compare it to itself and to your own rate.

1. 1.1 . Find your kWh for the month on the bill, not the dollar total. Usage is the number that tells you whether something changed in the house.
2. 2.2 . Compare it to the same month last year. Utilities print the prior-year figure on the bill for exactly this reason. A July against a July is a real comparison; a July against an April is not.
3. 3.3 . Divide your total bill by your kWh to get what you actually pay per kWh, all-in. It will be higher than any advertised supply rate, because it includes delivery.
4. 4.4 . Check the supply line for a supplier name. If one is there, you are on a competitive contract — possibly through a municipal aggregation you were enrolled in automatically — and it has a rate and an end date worth knowing.

If usage is flat year over year and the bill still rose, the change is in the rate rather than in the house, and that is the half you can shop. If usage rose and the rate did not, no supplier switch will fix it — the answer is in the house.

What actually moves a household bill

Only one row on that table is something a comparison site can help with. The rest are a house, not a contract — which is worth saying plainly, because most pages that answer this question are trying to sell you a supplier switch regardless of what your bill is made of.