The prolonged hot, humid weather that hung over Ohio this summer drove electric bills up, causing many electricity consumers to exceed their expected utility expenses.

Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative members weren’t immune from sticker shock based on the weather, which pushed people to stay indoors more and caused air conditioners to run longer to keep inside temperatures comfortable. Higher electricity use meant higher-than-usual electricity bills for many members.

Unlike customers of investor-owned utilities, though, our members were mostly insulated from the sharp spikes in electricity rates that come with increased demand in extreme weather. In June, electricity rates for many AEP Ohio customers increased by more than 25%. The reason cited for the rate hike was the high price of electricity caused by high demand and limited supply.

Hancock-Wood operates on a different business model, which is designed to provide electricity to members at cost, and to keep those costs as low and stable as possible.

Generation ownership

Investor-owned utilities, like AEP Ohio, Toledo Edison, and Ohio Edison don’t generate electricity but instead purchase it through an auction by the regional transmission organization that manages the electric grid for Ohio and 12 surrounding states. Because of surging demand, including ever-growing usage from data centers and high summer temperatures, and decreased generation, exacerbated by the premature retirement of fossil-fuel power plants, auction prices have been rising steeply.

Hancock-Wood is protected from much of this market volatility because we do not rely on purchasing energy in electricity auctions. Not only are we member-owned and not-for-profit, but Hancock-Wood is a part-owner — along with Ohio’s other electric co-ops — of Buckeye Power, which generates and transmits the electricity that powers our co-ops. Buckeye Power’s generation facilities include the coal-fired Cardinal Power Plant; the Mone and Greenville natural gas plants; and various solar arrays (the largest of which is on Hancock-Wood lines), hydropower from upstate New York, and renewable energy from biogas from livestock farms and landfills like the Hancock County generating station. Owning our own generation, provided at cost — with no mark-ups for profits — allows cooperatives to maintain more stable rates for our members.

Buckeye Power generates sufficient electricity for the 1 million Ohioans who rely on it. In fact, Buckeye Power sells any excess power it produces and the revenue earned helps to offset the rising costs of fuel, transportation, and supplies — and some is returned to local distribution coops like Hancock-Wood as capital credits.

Cost increases

While we’re protected from sharp swings in the auction price of electricity, co-ops are not exempt from ongoing growth in the costs of generating and transmitting electricity. Because we provide members electricity at cost, when those expenses increase, so do our rates, but in smaller increments and less frequently.

Electric cooperatives like Hancock-Wood have fewer consumers to share the costs of building and maintaining distribution infrastructure. Our co-op averages just seven residential consumers per mile of line, while the state’s IOU’s average 28. Yet, because of our cooperative business model — including ownership in generation — we maintain highly competitive rates. For July 2025, a Hancock-Wood Electric residential member using 1,000 kWh paid $177, while neighbors with the same usage on AEP lines paid $202.80 and Toledo Edison customers paid $181.25. Electricity consumers across the state faced higher rates than last July, but Hancock-Wood members paid just 1.14% more, while many IOU customers saw increases of more than 11%. This price comparison doesn’t even take into account the refund of capital credits that many members received on your December electric bills.

As a Hancock-Wood Electric member, you can rest assured that your co-op will always keep your rates as low as possible while maintaining the cooperative’s financial health and providing the reliable electricity you need and expect.