Heating bills have customers’ blood boiling: Here’s why electric prices are skyrocketing

“My goal is to keep our bills as low as we can,” Jarvis said. “It’s the kids and grandkids I worry about.”

Credit: Bryant Billing

Credit: Bryant Billing

A recent Dayton Daily News online survey after January heating bills were sent to homes received 245 responses, including some reporting bills over $1,000. One theme dominated the reactions: “Shock and surprise.”

Respondents expressed anger over higher prices for something people need to survive and worry over bills that, in some reported cases, have doubled year over year.

February bills could be worse following record snow and cold in January.

As is often the case, those hit hardest by cost increases of any kind are those who can least afford it.

Brookville residents Mindi and Ron Wynne are on fixed disability incomes. They live in a four-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom 2,165-square-foot home with their daughter and son-in-law, and two grandchildren, Liam, 8, and Ezra, 6.

Not including late charges and other fees, their AES bill that was due Feb. 17 had delivery charges of $256.34 and supply charges of $370.76. For the same bill last year, they owed $206.66 for delivery and $297.41 for supply.

Credit: Bryant Billing

Credit: Bryant Billing

Their house was rebuilt in 1978 and still uses the fuel oil furnace from then to generate heat. “We don’t really know how old it is,” said Ron.

Ezra has cerebral palsy and requires constantly running machines to help him breathe and to maintain the house temperature between 68 and 72 degrees.

They are two months behind on their AES bill in addition to owing money to Spectrum, T-Mobile and a variety of medical providers.

“We owe Premier Health our next born child,” Ron said.

Why costs rising?

Among those who responded to the Dayton Daily News survey, the overriding question is why has a basic service become so expensive?

There is no simple answer. Instead, the “why” is a result of a convoluted web of aging infrastructure, publicly approved price increases, record-breaking weather, and a never-before-seen appetite for power.

The bottom line, said PUCO Director of Public Affairs Matt Schilling, is basic supply and demand.

“It’s really the first time in 25 years we’ve seen an increase of demand in electricity,” Schilling said.

Nationwide, heating bills in 2026 are projected to increase between 7.6% and 11% compared to last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

This follows a national increase of 30% between 2021 — the end of the COVID pandemic — and 2025. Nearly every state in the country experienced rate hikes in 2025.

Electricity costs are the driving factor. Retail electricity prices have increased faster than the rate of inflation since 2022, according to the EIA. The 2025 rate of increase for electricity was 5.1% compared to a 3% overall inflation rate.

Price increases

The face of the rising prices are the electric and gas utility companies — companies like AES Ohio, CenterPoint Energy and Duke Energy Ohio — who deliver the power to homes, send the bills, and as a result, bear the brunt of complaints when prices go up.

Over the last year, PUCO has approved rate increases for all three organizations. Duke Energy implemented a 30% increase in June 2025 due to higher regional capacity costs. In November 2025, PUCO approved up to a 9% increase in distribution rates over three years for AES Ohio.

On Jan. 7, PUCO authorized CenterPoint’s first distribution base rate adjustment in 6 years, which resulted in a $12 monthly increase to an average customer.

These increases went into effect just in time for a record-breaking winter.

All three utility companies cited growing infrastructure maintenance and replacement costs as a driving factor behind the need for a price increase.

But they’re only one piece of the power puzzle.

“We don’t own or operate generation,” said Mary Ann Kabel, director of corporate communications for AES Ohio.

The Grid

Outside of 81 municipalities who generate all or a portion of their electric (like Hamilton), most of Ohio relies on power transmitted by the PJM Interconnection, a Regional Transmission Organization that coordinates the movement of electricity to 13 states and Washington, D.C.

PJM holds an annual capacity auction where energy suppliers bid on future capacity commitments. The auction is designed to ensure there is sufficient load capacity to handle demand for the next one to three years.

The prices are passed on to companies like AES Ohio and Duke Energy, which then pass them to customers with no upcharge.

Credit: Bryant Billing

Credit: Bryant Billing

“Ohio is no longer in the generation business,” said Amy Spiller, president of Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky. “We’re on the hook for distributing it.”

In June 2024, the PJM auction resulted in pricing 833% higher than the prior year, resulting in 10-15% capacity cost increases on residential bills from June 2025 through May 2026. Businesses are expected to see increases of up to 29%.

Energy experts anticipate similar results for the next auction.

Capacity costs are part of the generation service charge bill in Ohio.

A recent study by global consulting firm Charles River Associates found that capacity price increases in areas served by PJM were partly driven by data center demand in the region.

Deregulation

Both gas and electric are deregulated in Ohio, meaning consumers have the ability to shop suppliers for both utilities while local utility companies handle the delivery and infrastructure maintenance.

Natural gas was deregulated in 1997. The Ohio General Assembly passed legislation in 1999 to deregulate electricity, which became effective Jan. 1, 2001.

When regulated, PUCO set prices for generation, transmission and distribution. Federal law required rates were “just and reasonable.”

Under deregulation, generation was separated and left to the free market. While intended to lower costs through competition, the opposite happened.

A yearlong study in 2025 by Ohio State University Energy Markets and Policy Group into the impact of deregulation showed that generation costs actually increased as much as 110% due to a lack of competitive pricing at the retail level and the rise of “middleman marketers.”

AES Ohio President Tom Raga is very familiar with both regulated and deregulated states.

While Ohio is deregulated, neighboring Indiana — where AES is a primary energy provider — is a vertically aligned regulated state.

In states like Indiana, the utility companies and the state commission work closely with their customers on load forecasting and economic development, Raga said. It helps ensure new generation is built in a way that ensures stable rates for customers and growth for the state.

“Ohio has been deregulated for 25 years, and it was intended to allow customers to choose their generation supply to keep prices low and provide sufficient generation,” he said. “If the market works, new generation is built to match customer needs. Unfortunately, the deregulated market is not working well right now and customers are facing higher generation prices and potential shortfalls in generation compared to the forecasted need.”

Household usage

Oakwood resident Gina Johnson said she doesn’t like that her heating bill from CenterPoint has gone up $90 in a year in spite of lowering her thermostat from 72 degrees last year to 68 this year in anticipation of higher costs.

“There were times I literally put gloves on inside. There were times we were wrapped under blankets,” Johnson said.

She considers herself more fortunate than friends who are dealing with monthly heating bills of $500 or more.

Her January bill of $284 was higher than she liked, but she notes there are things that could be done to cut their costs.

“My windows are bad, the roof is about 20 years old,” Johnson said. She doesn’t participate in any type of budget billing and doesn’t price compare when it comes to her gas and electric suppliers.

And like most Americans, Johnson enjoys the conveniences that come with plugging in.

After a decade of flat or declining usage, Americans over the last two years have increased electricity usage by 1-3% per year since 2024, according to the EIA and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

A shift to electric heat pumps for home heating, sustained use of air conditioning, an increased dependence on internet-connected devices, smart home technologies and home entertainment systems in recent years are all adding demand to the electric grid. And driving up the price.

Meanwhile, the Wynnes are caught in a vicious cycle of never-ending bills and constantly increasing costs.

Credit: Bryant Billing

Credit: Bryant Billing

They said they’re not asking for charity, but for a chance to break the cycle.

“Life doesn’t need to be free. Let’s just be fair,” Mindi said. “Give people a chance to catch up on things.”

Ron’s solution is more direct.

“It’s an endemic change that needs to happen. AES can perhaps stop paying their top-tier people millions of dollars and cut rates,” he said.

Heating cost reduction tips

Source: Public Utilities Commission of Ohio

Where to get help with your bill

Both AES and Duke offer company-funded programs to help people with their bills.

AES’ Gift of Power is available to anyone with a past due balance of $500 or more, or who has received a disconnect notice.

Gift of Power is funded by $2.5 million in contributions from AES and its employees, and contributions from customers up to $1,000.

“We’ve helped more than 5,000 families with the gift of Power,” Kabel said.

The Duke Energy Share the Light Fund assists qualifying residential customers who are struggling to pay their energy bills due to financial hardships.

The assistance amount varies by income levels, family size and other factors, but can be as much as $1,500.

Other assistance programs available to Ohioans include: