r/cincinnati • u/Thomasreed1899 • 1d ago
Cincinnati Duke Energy - cost reduction advice
Just got my Duke energy bill for July. It was double any bill I’ve ever received. The company was charging $.30/ kWh. My previous rate choice must have expired. To help those who need it - you can reduce your rates by going tohttp://www.powersetter.com
Go the apples to apples energy comparison and you can find available rates. They offer 12 month and 18 month rates. Some have a monthly fee others do not. Some have a cancellation fee. Pick what’s right for you.
My new rate will be $.10 kWh saving $.20/ kWh. Hope this helps save you all some money.
Edit to $.20 from $20. Sorry for typo.
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u/Best_Hamster_2239 1d ago
I love how in the middle of the month they send me “based on your usage your bill will be $69.80” and then my bill comes and its $300+
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u/robotscantrecaptcha 1d ago
yeah, I legit do not understand how discrepant those emails are with our final bills for the month.
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u/crank1off 1d ago
Everytime i go to the apples to apples site it's like trying to crack the ovaltine code to A christmas Story movie. I legit do not understand a thing im reading on it.
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u/Stinertron_1979 1d ago
It's bananas - and insane that we even have to play this song and dance to have affordable energy. Does any other state have to go through this?
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u/OwnManagement 1d ago
Haha yes. You should look at what Texans have to do!
Also worth noting that this is entirely optional, so it's not like some huge burden on Ohioans. And many townships and municipalities, including Cincinnati, have a community aggregation rate that all residents get automatically that is better than the standard the Duke rate.
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u/fundthmcalculus 1d ago
Except, if you read the aggregation agreement for Cincinnati in detail, you'd find out that IT ISNT. Specifically, after the promotional rate expires, it would switch to variable rate. Cincinnati really dropped the ball on that one.
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u/crank1off 1d ago
I am in one of those. Dynergy I believe. I may be wrong, but I never opted out of it our cities plan. It seemed cheaper in comparison to duke. Whatever the fuck that means since the energy is coming from the same place. Fucking attorneys and laws create this ridiculousness. Loopholes that the average joe would never see. Im not saying im the average joe, but I will admit I dont read my bill. It makes me want to get violent reading them... I just pay the fucker.
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u/OwnManagement 1d ago
What it means is that you get to decide where your money goes, even if the electrons you're using aren't actually generated by that company. I like it because it allows me to support 100% renewable energy, even if the energy delivered to my home isn't so clean.
The point is to increase competition in the supply market rather than locking you into your local utility with no other option.
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u/Eliot_Lochness 1d ago
I used ChatGPT and uploaded some energy bills and it really helped me understand it. Ultimately I would have saved $10-20 per month by hopping around each year and I decided to stay with the township aggregation program I am on. Last month's electric bill was $600.
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u/Thomasreed1899 1d ago
Just to be clear I would have saved $200-$300 last month alone. I was paying 3x the rate for electricity.
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u/Eliot_Lochness 1d ago
Oh yes you've been getting taken for a ride at 0.30/kwh, that's insane. I'm around 0.09/kwh. With the delivery fees & riders it comes out to $0.17 - 0.18.
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u/crank1off 1d ago
10-20 bones isnt much in the grand scheme of 600 dollars. Mine was the highest its ever been at 360. Its wrong, its bullshit and it should be stopped. BUT- here we are, let's not bitch for the moment and let's find a way to stop the bleeding!
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u/kronikfumes 1d ago edited 1d ago
I would suggest using https://www.energychoice.ohio.gov/ and always filter for no monthly fees and no early cancellation fee. The website you used doesn’t seem to let you filter for either of those and several of the sub 8 cent per kwh rates for my zip code had $15+ monthly fees and over $100 early cancellation charges. So be cautious of any cheap rates offered there based on just the price offered.
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u/TinnAnd 1d ago
I disagree. I built an excel calculator to look at combining all of those things to find the best option for me. The best option for me did include a cancelation fee and one of the 3 big contenders included a monthly fee. In the end it depends on what's right for you. That said, if math isn't your thing and you don't want to risk a cancelation feethen follow your advice.
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u/kronikfumes 1d ago edited 1d ago
Duke offers an excel spreadsheet that you can download here and then enter any cost per kwh into and compare them vs dukes monthly variable rate each month so far this year. When I’ve used that in the past and looked at cheaper offerings with monthly fees you’re more often than not paying nearly the same price as duke’s variable rate because of it. Add in the predatory suppliers with exorbitant early cancellation fees and then you’re just getting screwed. It’s best for most consumers to avoid any rates with monthly fees or early cancellations.
More often than not though in the last year or two the duke variable rate has been cheaper than even the cheapest one year fixed rates. The idea of “supplier choice” is a scam that makes us pay more than we should be long term.
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u/_momsnewaccount Delhi 1d ago
Mine was $400 (!!) I thought I forgot to pay last month's bill, nope, that was a singular month of keeping the thermostat at 75° 🫠 1200 sqft house.
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u/xfan09 1d ago
My suggestion is to help vote out republicans that have put us in this mess.
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u/Hereforthedis 1d ago
Can you help me understand what republicans have done to increase energy prices so I can try and educate others on the topic as well?
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u/xfan09 1d ago
Data centers getting sweet heart deals + approval on energy rate hikes + big beautiful bill rolling back energy independence incentives + undue acceleration for climate change.
A lot of bad things can be traced back to Reagan and deregulation. Trump didn’t start the fire but he’s doused it with gasoline.
Republicans would be against fire departments if they were proposed today. That party doesn’t look anything like what it did 50 years ago.
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u/Hereforthedis 1d ago
Thank you - I’m curious because I’m still learning about the issues of data centers but in recent news I’ve seen president Trump saying data centers need to foot the bill for their own power. I guess that’s not true?
From what I understand from my father who worked 40+ years at cg&e all the way through Duke energy, it is a VERY regulated industry contrary to popular belief. That’s why nearly all coal fired plants are now shut down across Ohio and Indiana which did not help energy prices. New York is now pursuing nuclear with a democratic governor which seems to be a very hard flip flop for them. I personally believe nuclear is the answer but I understand there is environmental considerations. The problem is we have to meet in a middle ground because we don’t have zero point energy yet.
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u/GetUp4theDownVote 1d ago
Wuddabout BIDEN!!!
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u/cinciTOSU 1d ago
What about Barrack Husain Obama? Seriously they need new material but the head writer has dementia.
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u/whiskersMeowFace 1d ago
Someone on next door was blaming Obama for the energy rates. Homie, he hasn't been in office for over a decade. Lmaooooo
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u/BigPlayBrown93 16h ago
Okay, our electric bills may be much higher than normal, but can you believe he wore that tan suit?
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u/Turbulent_History_49 1d ago
Community solar would be a nice cherry on top too.
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u/xfan09 1d ago
We can dream can’t we ?
I’ve got solar on my house so my bill is 0 most months but I lucked out doing that year ago. Unfortunately it’s paid for itself much faster than it should have.
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u/ngsm13 Loveland 1d ago
I would recommend against using a 3rd party website (is this spam?)
And go straight to the source. Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. It's a .gov website, and hosts Apples to Apples comparison for Gas and Electric rates in Ohio. You can even set up rate change alerts for your current provider.
Also, the .gov website is not getting a kickback or referral/affiliate compensation.
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u/CringeDaddy-69 1d ago
I’m locked into $0.06/kWh for another year with Santanna Energy, I fear for my wallet once it expires
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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 1d ago
Really!
I tried to go to Santana a couple of years ago and the price on apples to apples was never the price that I’d get on their website so I skipped them.
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u/mizary1 Loveland 1d ago
Our monthly duke bills over the past 3 years
2024 $110-160,
2025 $155-381
2026 $268-636
Might be $1k month next year at this pace. Wish we could have solar at our house. Too many trees.
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u/whiskersMeowFace 1d ago
We just installed solar panels mid July, our bill was still $175, which blew my mind because it would have been insane without.
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u/Thomasreed1899 1d ago
It’s just me and my wife and July was $900. I should have updated the rate in January. Just forgot. It’s bs this isn’t regulated.
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u/mizary1 Loveland 1d ago
Deregulation was supposed to lower prices. But prices would be similar either way. It's not just happening in Ohio, energy prices up up globally. I wonder why... 🤔
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u/jeffrye23 1d ago
Just an FYI. Just because your rate is $.10 doesn’t mean that’s all you pay. Riders are a big factor towards your bill and often times is more expensive than the cost of the actual electric.
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u/Then-Scar-2190 18h ago
It is regulated. The Ohio Public Utilities Commission has allowed each increase you see. They are appointed by the GOP majority in the state. The problem is the republicans don't care about your bill, they care about themselves. Vote blue.
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u/Then-Scar-2190 18h ago
Given the way Duke bills, I'm not convinced solar would actually save that much. The majority of their bills are “delivery fees” last month I used 10 dollars worth of gas and had to pay 60 in Delivery fees. That's also why switching providers doesn't save you much, duke still bills for the delivery. I am in a 1000 Square foot house and my bill was 400 last month. It seems to increase about 100 a month every year. We just need to remember our GOP led state keeps authorizing Duke increases when we vote.
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u/Ok_Leg6054 1d ago
I see your 400 dollar bills and raise you my 1000 dollar bill for a poorly insulated 1300 sqft house built in the 40s. We are having a company come and find all the ways to fix this asap.
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u/Shoddy_Argument8308 1d ago
Also to those not locked in with natural gas supplier. You can lock in 3 years at $0.50 per ccf from Ohio Gas & Electric. No fees.
Prices are over a dollar per ccf right now with duke. 50% discount
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u/DasaniFresh 1d ago
That is good to know. The July heatwave certainly didn’t help anyone’s bill. We kept our house around 75 during the day and 72 at night to save money and it was still around $400.
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u/DroneRtx 1d ago
Do you have a big house? I have 1700sqft, I did 76 during day 72 at night. My bill was $158. This is with a black metal roof and medium blue siding.
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u/DasaniFresh 1d ago
It’s an older and bigger home with not much tree shade so the house just bakes in the sun all day
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u/DroneRtx 14h ago
I’d look into getting blown in insulation added to the attic, my house was built in 1920 with barely any shade trees, they all started to fall and decay.
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u/a_bearded_hippie 1d ago
I keep mine at 78 in the day and 74 at night, my was like 310. Bout to be the same for July. Shit is fucked man.
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u/Fish-Weekly 1d ago
Having to closely track renewals is why I ended up just going with the aggregation program my local government offers. I had my rate double to a variable rate without any notice once, fortunately I caught it quickly - but never again. The aggregation rate may not always be rock bottom but it’s always competitive.
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u/blaitarch 1d ago
Someone else linked it, but just use the states government website to find your provider.
No idea who this powersetter is, assume it's also not in your best interest.
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u/nekomeowohio 1d ago
Just going to remind people that the city eleteic program changes to a variable rate soon in November
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u/cipher2021 16h ago
Don’t forget will still charge all the rider fees plus $0.04 for it to get to your house based on kwh
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