The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC: "The Reliable One") is a municipally-owned public utility providing water and electric service to the citizens of Orlando, Florida and portions of adjacent unincorporated areas of Orange County, as well as St. Cloud, Florida, in Osceola County. OUC currently serves more than 250,000 customers.
Chartered in 1923, OUC is the second largest locally owned electric utility in Florida and the 16th largest in the nation. The company is governed by a five-member commission (including the Mayor of Orlando), which is responsible for all operating policies.
OUC owns and operates the Curtis H. Stanton Energy Center and portions of other power plants in Florida. Notable ownership includes the Indian River Plant north of Cocoa, a former OUC plant now owned by RRI Energy; as well as a 6.08% stake in the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant near Fort Pierce.
OUC also owns eight water plants.
Famous quotes containing the words utilities and/or commission:
“Flowers and fruits are always fit presents; flowers, because they are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all of the utilities of the world. These gay natures contrast with the somewhat stern countenance of ordinary nature: they are like music heard out of a work-house.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Children cannot eat rhetoric and they cannot be sheltered by commissions. I don’t want to see another commission that studies the needs of kids. We need to help them.”
—Marian Wright Edelman (20th century)