Orlando Utilities

From SourceWatch
Jump to navigation Jump to search

{{#badges: CoalSwarm| Climate change}}The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) is a municipally owned public utility providing electric and water service to the citizens of Orlando, Florida and portions of adjacent unincorporated areas of Orange County, as well as St. Cloud, in Osceola County, Florida. OUC currently serves more than 200,000 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 is partial sponsor of the natural gas-fueled, combined-cycle electric-generating unit Stanton Energy Center, has a 6.08% stake in the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant near Fort Pierce, Florida, and was a former owner of the Indian River Plant north of Cocoa, Florida, now owned by Reliant Energy.

Existing Coal Plants

Plant Name State Year(s) Built Capacity
Stanton Energy Center (existing) FL 1987, 1996 929 MW

Canceled Stanton Project

In partnership with Southern Company and the U.S. Department of Energy, OUC proposed to build a 285 MW IGCC coal plant at the existing Stanton Energy Center near Orlando, in Orange County, Florida. The project received a Department of Energy pledge of $293 million in long-term loans.[1]

In November, 2007, Southern Company took the unusual step of canceling the project two months after ground had been broken.[2] The company cited concerns that Florida Governor Charlie Crist would press for additional carbon controls.[3]

Nuclear Power

OUC is looking to invest as much as $3.7 million as a deposit to buy up to $800 million worth [4] of Progress Energy's proposed nuclear plant in Levy County, north of Inglis. In August 2009, the Florida Cabinet approved the plant, making it "the first such plant approved in Florida in 33 years." [5]

Contact details

Orlando Utilities
Reliable Plaza at 100 West Anderson St.
PO Box 3193
Orlando, FL 32802
407.423.9100
Website: http://www.ouc.com/

Article and resources

References

  1. "Stopping the Coal Rush", Sierra Club, accessed January 2008. (This is a Sierra Club list of new coal plant proposals.)
  2. “Southern Company Scraps Florida Advanced Clean-coal Plant,” Reuters UK, November 14, 2007.
  3. "IGCC Stumbles and Falls in the U.S.: The Spate of Cancellations Is Becoming a Flood," Modern Power Systems, November 26, 2007.
  4. Stephanie Heiser "Orlando Utilities Commission Considering $800 Million Nuclear Power Deal" Nuclear Power Industry News, February 16, 2009
  5. Shannon Colavecchio, "Florida Cabinet OK's first new nuclear plant in 33 years," Miami Herald (Florida), August 11, 2009.

Related SourceWatch Articles

External resources

Wikipedia also has an article on Orlando Utilities. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.