Lowest 2023 Illuminating Company Electricity Rates in Ohio

The majority of the more than 700,000 electricity customers who receive their power from The Illuminating Company are facing extreme price hikes on their electricity bills in the summer of 2023 due to a price hike by the utility.  Fortunately, Illuminating Company customers can greatly lower their electric bills by taking the time to shop and compare electricity rate offers available in the competitive Ohio energy choice market.

On June 1, 2023 the Standard Service Offer (SSO) rate for The Illuminating Company increased an eye-popping 110% from $0.059039 per kWh to $0.124 per KWh.  Electricity usage for residential customers are measured in kilowatt Hours (KWh), and while a rate increase of six and half cents might not seem significant, it becomes more obvious once one realizes that electricity usage for houses often surpass well over 1,000 KWh a month.

Many Illuminating Company customers will have to take a double take when they receive their electric bill in July 2023 which will be the first invoice that has the new SOS rate in effect; the July bill will be for the service period in June when the rate spike begins.  That initial First Energy Illuminating bill with the rate hike will show the supply portion of the electric bill to be 110% higher than the bills received in the prior months.  The electricity rate will remain high unless action is taken by customers on the SOS rate plan and find a lower Illuminating Company electric rate.

How to get lower Illuminating Company Electric Bills in Ohio in 2023?

Fortunately for Ohio electricity customers of The Illuminating Company there is a clear cut way to get lower electric bills.  Due to the fact that Ohio in an energy choice state, all power consumers who receive their electricity bill from The Illuminating Company have the option to shop for the lowest Ohio electricity rates.  

In Ohio every customer receives electricity from their local utility company.  That utility company – in this case it is The Illuminating Company – is responsible for delivering the electricity to customers and maintaining the transmission and distribution power lines.  In addition, they are also responsible for sending out the Ohio electric bill regardless if the customer has decided to shop for a lower rate or not.

Though Ohio has deregulated their electricity market which allows for competitive electricity companies to market their rates and services to customers, the utility aspect of the power business remains regulated.  This is often confusing to customers who learn about energy choice for the first time, but can be simplified by thinking of your electric bill as two separate parts.  Those two parts are the regulated utility charges and the deregulated electricity supply charges.

1. Regulated Utility Charges:  This is how utility companies such as The Illuminating Company receive their revenue.  They charge customers  for delivering the power to their home or business through the power lines and wires.  The rate they charge for this is monitored and approved by the state of Ohio Public Utility Commission.
2. Deregulated Electricity Supply Charge:  This is the charge for the actual generation of the electricity for which you will consume that is delivered through the lines and wires.  It is this charge that is open to competition through Ohio electricity choice.  If you do not choose a competitive electricity rate plan then you are automatically put on a default rate with the Ohio utility company.  This default rate is referred to as the Standard Offer Service Rate (SOS Rate) and will state this on the power bill.

Compare The Illuminating Company Electricity Rate Offers

Cleveland Illuminating Company Savings Potential by ElectricRate

The 110% rate increase that is occurring for customers of The Illuminating Company is because the Standard Offer Service Rate is rising to $0.124 per KWh.  Customers can get the lowest Illuminating Company electricity rate by comparing Ohio electricity prices from suppliers on energy price search engines. The lowest Illuminating Company electricity rate will provide the greatest amount of savings on the monthly electric bill.

When a customer switches on to a competitive electricity plan that rate replaces the SSO rate offered by the utility.  If the competitive rate offer is lower than the SSO rate than the customer will save money, it is as simple as that.

The SSO default rate can be viewed as a sort of price to compare for customers to measure the value of competitive electricity offers.  The Ohio Public Utilities Commission requires that all competitive supplier offers are an apples to apples comparison against the SSO price.  This allows consumers to get apples to apples electric rate options from the energy companies offering their services in The Illuminating Company service area and the rest of Ohio.

Updated on 06-20-23