Riders Explained

Riders are additional line items on your Ohio electric bill. Each utility has its own set — the names, codes, and rates differ across FirstEnergy, AEP Ohio, Duke Energy, and AES Ohio. Here's a breakdown for every Ohio residential electric utility.

Approximate rates: Rider rates for AEP Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio, and AES Ohio are sourced from tariff documents and news reporting — some are estimates. Rates for all utilities change periodically with PUCO approval. Always verify against your current bill.

FirstEnergy

18 riders

Code	Name	Description	Category	Bypassable?	Rate
GEN	Generation Service	Standard generation service — the utility's Price to Compare. Bypassable: replaced in full by your supplier's rate when you switch. Rate is territory-specific (OE 10.83¢, CEI 11.11¢, TE 9.52¢ for June 2026). Live PTC comes from the energychoice.ohio.gov snapshot; this rate is a fallback.	generation	✓ Yes	11.1100¢/kWh
NMB	Non-Market-Based Services	Recovers non-commodity generation costs (capacity, ancillary services, transmission components) included in the standard service offer. Bypassable — replaced by your supplier's rate when you switch.	generation	✓ Yes	2.5913¢/kWh
RER2	Residential Electric Heating Recovery 2	Recovers deferred purchased power costs from the Rider RGC heating-credit program. Bypassable when shopping.	generation	✓ Yes	0.1232¢/kWh
GCR	Generation Cost Reconciliation	Reconciles the difference between projected and actual generation supply costs for SSO customers. GCR1 is bypassable when shopping; GCR2 (currently 0) becomes non-avoidable only if deferral exceeds 10% of supply cost for two consecutive quarters.	generation	✓ Yes	0.3250¢/kWh
AER	Alternative Energy Resource	Recovers Renewable Energy Credit (REC) procurement costs for compliance with Ohio Revised Code §4928.64. Bypassable when shopping.	generation	✓ Yes	0.0861¢/kWh
AMI	Advanced Metering Infrastructure / Modern Grid	Fixed monthly charge recovering smart meter deployment and grid modernization costs (Case 09-1820-EL-ATA). Non-bypassable — stays on your bill regardless of supplier.	infrastructure	🔒 No	$1.93/mo
DCR	Delivery Capital Recovery	Recovers return on incremental distribution capital investment since the last base rate case. Charged as 45.7849% of the customer's distribution energy charge (≈1.35¢/kWh at the base tariff distribution rate). Non-bypassable.	distribution	🔒 No	1.3510¢/kWh
NDU	Non-Distribution Uncollectible	Recovers uncollectible expense for non-distribution charges. Non-bypassable for default-service customers but does not apply when taking generation from a certified supplier.	regulatory	✓ Yes	0.4917¢/kWh
DSE	Demand Side & Energy Efficiency (net)	Net of Rider DSE1 (legacy ELR program costs through May 2024) and Rider DSE2 (energy efficiency programs). Both currently zero per the May 2024 PUCO order. Non-bypassable.	efficiency	🔒 No	0.0000¢/kWh
DUN	Distribution Uncollectible	Recovers (or, currently, credits) uncollectible expense on the distribution portion of the bill. The current rider value is a credit, not a charge. Non-bypassable.	credit	🔒 No	-0.0329¢/kWh
DRR	Delta Revenue Recovery	Recovers the revenue delta between the standard tariff and approved economic development/EE/special-contract rates. Tiny per-kWh amount; non-bypassable.	regulatory	🔒 No	0.0001¢/kWh
EDR	Economic Development Rider	Recovers the revenue impact of economic-development credits. Reflects RS Standard Charge Provision (0.117¢) plus Automaker Charge Provision (0.0022¢) per PUCO 13. Non-bypassable.	regulatory	🔒 No	0.1192¢/kWh
PIR	Phase-In Recovery Rider	Recovers principal/interest on phase-in recovery bonds securitized under O.R.C. §§4928.23–4928.2318. Non-bypassable.	regulatory	🔒 No	0.0449¢/kWh
PUR	PIPP Uncollectible	Recovers uncollectible expense associated with Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) customers. Currently a small charge. Non-bypassable.	social	🔒 No	0.0035¢/kWh
SKT	State kWh Tax	Ohio state excise tax on electricity consumption (R.C. §5727.81). Tiered: 0.465¢ for first 2,000 kWh, 0.419¢ for next 13,000 kWh, 0.363¢ above 15,000 kWh. Non-bypassable.	tax	🔒 No	0.4650¢/kWh
TSA	Tax Savings Adjustment	Credit returning federal tax reform savings to customers per PUCO order in Case 18-1656-EL-ATA. Non-bypassable.	credit	🔒 No	-0.1715¢/kWh
USF	Universal Service Fund	Funds the low-income Universal Service Fund. Tiered: 0.15432¢ for first 833,000 kWh, 0.05680¢ above. Non-bypassable.	social	🔒 No	0.1543¢/kWh
RDC	Residential Distribution Credit	Credit of 1.70¢/kWh applied to consumption above 500 kWh during winter billing months (Nov–Apr) for customers grandfathered from the legacy load-management/electric-heating schedules. Non-bypassable.	credit	🔒 No	-1.7000¢/kWhabove 500 kWh (winter)

AEP Ohio

4 riders

Code	Name	Description	Category	Bypassable?	Rate
GEN	Generation Service (SSO)	Standard Service Offer — AEP Ohio's default generation supply rate. This is the Price to Compare. Replaced by your supplier's rate when you switch.	generation	✓ Yes	9.9400¢/kWh
BTCR	Basic Transmission Cost Rider	Recovers the cost of transmitting electricity over high-voltage transmission lines from generators to local distribution systems.	transmission	🔒 No	4.3400¢/kWh
KWH	KWH Tax Rider	Recovers Ohio excise tax on electricity consumption.	tax	🔒 No	0.3000¢/kWh
USF	Universal Service Fund	Funds low-income customer assistance programs.	social	🔒 No	0.2000¢/kWh

Duke Energy Ohio

3 riders

Code	Name	Description	Category	Bypassable?	Rate
GEN	Generation & Transmission Service (SSO)	Duke Energy's default generation supply rate, which also includes transmission costs (Rider RTO). All bypassable together when you switch to a third-party supplier.	generation	✓ Yes	10.7000¢/kWh
DDR	Distribution Decoupling Rider	Reconciles the difference between allowed and actual distribution revenues. Being phased out in 2026.	distribution	🔒 No	0.3000¢/kWh
UE-ED	Uncollectible Expense — Electric Distribution	Recovers costs of unpaid electric distribution bills.	regulatory	🔒 No	0.2000¢/kWh

AES Ohio

7 riders

Code	Name	Description	Category	Bypassable?	Rate
GEN	Generation Service (SSO)	AES Ohio's default generation supply rate. Replaced by your supplier's rate when you switch to a third-party supplier.	generation	✓ Yes	9.4500¢/kWh
T8	Transmission Cost Recovery Rider	Recovers the cost of transmitting electricity over high-voltage transmission lines. Non-bypassable — stays on your bill even when you switch suppliers.	transmission	🔒 No	0.6600¢/kWh
D29	Infrastructure Investment Rider	Recovers costs of distribution infrastructure investments.	infrastructure	🔒 No	$1.87/mo
D30	Storm Cost Recovery Rider	Recovers costs of major storm damage repair and restoration.	regulatory	🔒 No	$1.82/mo
D32	Proactive Reliability Optimization Rider	Funds proactive grid reliability improvement projects.	infrastructure	🔒 No	$0.32/mo
D36	Distribution Investment Rider	Recovers costs of major distribution system investments.	distribution	🔒 No	$3.33/mo
D41	Tax Savings Credit Rider	Returns tax reform savings to customers as a bill credit.	credit	🔒 No	-$0.74/mo

What are riders?

Ohio utilities can't change their base rates without a full rate case proceeding, which can take years. Riders are a mechanism that lets utilities recover specific, defined costs more quickly — typically reviewed and adjusted annually by PUCO.

Think of your base rate as a fixed subscription, and riders as line items that get added, removed, or adjusted based on regulatory decisions.

Bypassable riders (marked ✓) go away when you switch to a third-party supplier — they represent generation and transmission costs that your new supplier covers instead.

Non-bypassable riders (marked 🔒) stay on your bill no matter which supplier you use. They fund distribution infrastructure, regulatory programs, and low-income assistance.