Ohio Cannabis Energy: Electricity Choice, Rates, and Utilities for Licensed Operators

How the Ohio cannabis market is built

Ohio voters approved Issue 2, an initiated statute codified as R.C. Chapter 3780, on November 7, 2023 with 57 percent of the vote [oh-lsc-sb56-final-analysis]. Adult-use sales at existing dual-use dispensaries began August 6, 2024, and the medical program under R.C. Chapter 3796 continues alongside adult use [oh-lsc-sb56-final-analysis]. The Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Cannabis Control, licenses cultivators, processors, dispensaries, and testing labs [oh-dcc-cultivators-processors].

Senate Bill 56, signed December 19, 2025 and effective March 20, 2026, rewrote the program [oh-lsc-sb56-final-analysis]. It merged adult-use and medical licensing into dual-use licenses, capped dispensaries at 400 statewide with a one-mile spacing rule, eliminated the 5,000 square foot Level III cultivator tier, and expanded local authority to prohibit or limit cannabis businesses [oh-lsc-sb56-final-analysis]. As of February 18, 2026 the state held 37 cultivators (23 Level I dual-use, 14 Level II dual-use), 46 dual-use processors, 281 dispensaries, and 8 testing laboratories [oh-lsc-sb56-final-analysis]. Level I cultivators may grow up to 100,000 square feet and Level II up to 15,000 square feet after expansion [oh-lsc-sb56-final-analysis].

Two features of this market shape energy buying:

• Cultivator capacity is concentrated in 37 sites that can expand to very large canopy footprints. A Level I facility at full expansion is a multi-megawatt load that lands in the upper general-service delivery classes at whichever IOU serves the site.
• Dispensary count is capped at 400 but still growing, with 199 operational dual-use dispensaries and additional provisional licenses in the pipeline as of the February 2026 snapshot [oh-lsc-sb56-final-analysis]. Retail stores are small-commercial accounts where supply choice still matters even when demand charges are modest.

How electricity choice works in Ohio

Ohio opened retail electric choice under the Electric Restructuring Act of 1999 (Am. Sub. S.B. 3), with commercial choice effective in 2001 [oh-energychoice-glossary]. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio regulates the market and certifies Competitive Retail Electric Service providers [oh-energychoice-glossary]. The PUCO's Energy Choice Ohio site and Apples to Apples comparison charts are the official comparison tools [oh-energychoice-glossary].

All residential, commercial, and industrial customers of the four investor-owned utilities may buy generation from a certified CRES provider [oh-energychoice-glossary]. The utility keeps delivering power, handling outages, and billing distribution and transmission riders [oh-energychoice-glossary]. Municipal electric systems and rural electric cooperatives are not open to CRES suppliers [oh-energychoice-glossary]. Customers on the Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP PLUS) cannot switch [oh-energychoice-glossary].

If you do not choose, you stay on the utility's Standard Service Offer (SSO), procured through PUCO-supervised wholesale auctions [oh-energychoice-glossary]. The benchmark is the Price to Compare, reset every June 1 [oh-energychoice-glossary]. FirstEnergy's Rider GEN energy-plus-capacity rate for small commercial GS-Secondary customers rose about 6 percent on June 1, 2026 to 9.38 to 9.45 cents per kWh depending on the operating company [ecm-fe-ohio-sso-2026]. Commercial offers above small-business size are quoted individually, not posted on Apples to Apples [oh-energychoice-glossary].

All four Ohio IOUs are in PJM [oh-energychoice-glossary]. Capacity and network transmission charges (NITS) pass through and were sharply higher in the 2025/26 and 2026/27 PJM delivery years, which shows up in both SSO auction prices and CRES pass-through products [oh-energychoice-glossary]. A fixed, index, or block-and-index contract has to be read with PJM pass-through language in mind.

House Bill 15, signed May 2025, repeals Electric Security Plans after their final SSO delivery period, repeals the H.B. 6 OVEC legacy generation rider, requires distribution rate cases by December 31, 2029 and every three years thereafter, and allows CRES suppliers to bill customers directly [occ-hb15]. Commercial delivery charges will be re-set through mandatory rate cases over the next few years.

What commercial power costs in Ohio vs. the U.S.

Sector	Ohio, June 2026	U.S. average, June 2026
Commercial	13.77 cents/kWh	14.19 cents/kWh
Industrial	9.89 cents/kWh	not in state file

Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A [eia-epm-5-6-a].

Ohio commercial power runs about 3 percent below the national average on a blended basis [eia-epm-5-6-a]. That headline hides wide spreads: a dispensary on GS-1 with a competitive CRES contract can sit well under 13.77 cents, while a Level I cultivator with a 600 kW summer peak and per-kW distribution billing can land above it. The 3.88 cent gap between commercial and industrial averages is mostly delivery structure and load factor.

The four investor-owned utilities

Ohio cannabis facilities will sit in one of four territories, all in PJM:

Utility	Territory	Spoke page
AEP Ohio	Columbus, central, eastern, southern, and northwestern Ohio	AEP Ohio
FirstEnergy Ohio	Akron, Cleveland, Youngstown, Toledo (Ohio Edison, CEI, Toledo Edison)	FirstEnergy Ohio
Duke Energy Ohio	Cincinnati and southwestern Ohio	Duke Energy Ohio
AES Ohio	Dayton and west-central Ohio	AES Ohio

Each utility has its own tariff book, SSO Price to Compare, and general-service class structure. FirstEnergy's three operating companies have separate tariffs and separate benchmark values [oh-energychoice-glossary]. Non-residential delivery classes range from small non-demand service through demand-metered secondary and primary schedules. See utility rate classes explained and the facility-type pages for how a grow, lab, or store maps to each schedule.

Climate and why it matters for load

Ohio averages 5,689 heating degree days and 792 cooling degree days per year on a 1991-2020 base [noaa-cag-ohio]. Winters are cold and cloudy, with lake-effect snow near Lake Erie, and summers are warm and humid with dew points regularly in the mid-60s to low-70s F [noaa-cag-ohio]. Dehumidification runs year-round in sealed flowering rooms, and the summer cooling peak is moderate but humid [noaa-cag-ohio]. A facility page for cultivation energy in Ohio walks through how that climate shapes HVAC and demand.

Incentives worth knowing

Ohio ended its mandated utility energy-efficiency portfolios as of December 31, 2020 [aep-ohio-efficient-products]. Business incentives now vary by utility and are smaller than in neighboring choice states.

• AEP Ohio Efficient Products for Business offers fixed per-unit incentives for qualifying efficient equipment, with some lighting and HVAC measures shifted to point-of-sale Incentive NOW rebates [aep-ohio-efficient-products]. Confirm DLC-listed horticultural LED eligibility before purchase.
• Ohio Energy Loan Fund provides revolving low-interest loans for businesses that cut energy use by at least 15% with a required energy audit [oh-energy-loan-fund].
• FirstEnergy Ohio commercial lighting (Energy Save Ohio) resumed under Electric Security Plan IV, but verify current availability now that H.B. 15 has repealed ESPs [fe-ohio-ee-resume].

PJM capacity and why SSO prices jumped

All four Ohio IOUs sit in PJM, so every commercial bill carries network integration transmission service and capacity pass-throughs whether you stay on the Standard Service Offer or sign a CRES contract [oh-energychoice-glossary]. The 2025/26 and 2026/27 delivery years saw sharply higher capacity clearing prices in the PJM base residual auction, which flowed into June 1 SSO auction results and into supplier pass-through products [oh-energychoice-glossary]. A cultivator comparing a fixed CRES quote to the Price to Compare must read whether capacity is bundled in the fixed price or billed separately each month [oh-energychoice-glossary].

Transmission riders also update on schedule filings. H.B. 15 repeals the H.B. 6 OVEC legacy generation rider that added a coal-plant charge to many Ohio bills, but distribution rate cases over 2027-2029 will reset delivery charges on their own timeline [occ-hb15]. Treat supply and delivery as two procurement tracks: one negotiable with certified CRES providers, one set by PUCO-approved tariffs and riders [oh-energychoice-glossary].

Local authority and siting for new builds

S.B. 56 expanded local authority to prohibit or limit cannabis businesses and added a one-mile dispensary spacing rule [oh-lsc-sb56-final-analysis]. Energy planning for a greenfield Level I or Level II site should start after you confirm zoning and local approval, because service size and primary-voltage requests require utility engineering studies that you do not want to repeat if a local moratorium blocks the address [oh-lsc-sb56-final-analysis]. The Division of Cannabis Control publishes a live licensee list; refresh cultivator and dispensary counts from that list rather than relying on February 2026 snapshot figures alone [oh-dcc-cultivators-processors].

Industrial parks in Columbus (AEP Ohio), Cleveland (FirstEnergy), Cincinnati (Duke), and Dayton (AES) each carry different tariff books and different June 1 Price to Compare values [oh-energychoice-glossary]. A multi-site operator cannot assume one supplier quote covers every Ohio account [oh-energychoice-glossary]. See demand charges explained and the Ohio MSO case study for portfolio examples.

Procurement calendar for Ohio operators

Treat June 1 as the annual supply benchmark event at every IOU [oh-energychoice-glossary]. Start CRES re-bids for contracts expiring in Q2 at least ninety days before expiry so pricing reflects current PJM capacity curves [oh-energychoice-glossary]. Delivery rate cases under H.B. 15 may hit in different years by utility; track PUCO dockets separately from supplier contracts [occ-hb15]. Cultivators should align LED retrofit projects with AEP prescriptive windows and the Ohio Energy Loan Fund audit cycle [aep-ohio-efficient-products] [oh-energy-loan-fund]. Dispensary chains should roll up kWh across locations before bidding even when each store is small-commercial [oh-lsc-sb56-final-analysis].

Where to go next

• Cultivation facility energy: lighting, HVAC, and demand charges for Level I and Level II grows
• Extraction and processing energy: chillers, ovens, and C1D1 ventilation loads
• Dispensary retail energy: small-commercial classes for dual-use stores
• Multi-site operator energy: portfolio procurement across IOU territories
• How to switch electricity suppliers: CRES enrollment step by step
• Commercial electricity rates: class-by-class rate structure and benchmarks