The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) is a municipal utility serving over 230,000 customers in central Florida. It currently operates several solar projects including a 5.9 MW solar farm and a 400 KW community solar farm. For its community solar program, OUC allows customers to subscribe to shares of the solar farm in exchange for credits on their electricity bills over a 25-year period. The program was very popular and sold out its capacity in only 6 days. OUC is now planning to expand its community solar program and apply lessons learned from its initial project around contract negotiations, project siting, and program design.

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R E L I A B I L I T Y • A F F O R D A B I L I T Y • E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T E W A R D S H I P
Making Community Solar
Work
Jennifer S. Szaro
Orlando Utilities Commission

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R E L I A B I L I T Y • A F F O R D A B I L I T Y • E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T E W A R D S H I P
• Began serving utility
customers in 1923
• Provides water and
electricity
• Service population of over
230,000 throughout Orange
and Osceola Counties
• Governed by a 5-member
board that includes City of
Orlando Mayor
• Net Available Generating
Capacity of 1,743 MW
• 2nd largest municipal utility
in Florida
About OUC

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R E L I A B I L I T Y • A F F O R D A B I L I T Y • E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T E W A R D S H I P
Reliable
AffordableSustainable
An “Ideal” Utility Portfolio

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R E L I A B I L I T Y • A F F O R D A B I L I T Y • E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T E W A R D S H I P
OUC’s Solar Projects
Project
Capacity
(KW)
Stanton Solar Farm 5,910
Customer Incentives 4,200
Commercial Aggregation 418
Community Solar 400
Total 10,928

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R E L I A B I L I T Y • A F F O R D A B I L I T Y • E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T E W A R D S H I P
OUC’s Community Solar Farm Model

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R E L I A B I L I T Y • A F F O R D A B I L I T Y • E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T E W A R D S H I P
Marketing Plan
Customer
Focus Groups:
• General
customer
pool
• “Green-
minded”
customers
Critical Needs
Identified:
• Rate
stability
• No upfront
investment
• Portability
• No
maintenance
• Visible
access to the
site
Marketing
Approach:
• Phase 1:
Press release
and media
• Phase 2:
Targeted
marketing to
site-related
barrier
customers
• Phase 3:
Mass
marketing

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R E L I A B I L I T Y • A F F O R D A B I L I T Y • E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T E W A R D S H I P
Gardenia Community Solar Program Details
• 400 KW covered parking array located at
OUC’s Gardenia facility
• Open to residential and small commercial
customers
• PPA rate of $0.18/KWH
• Customer rate of $.13/KWH
• OUC bills customer fixed rate for their
share of output over 25-year term
• Project needed be 110% subscribed
before construction could begin
• Project sold out in 6 days with help of
press release and earned media
• Began operation October 2013
• 84 customers on waiting list (832 KW)

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R E L I A B I L I T Y • A F F O R D A B I L I T Y • E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T E W A R D S H I P
Subscription Process
Customer pays
initial reservation
deposit of $50 at
sign up
Shares sold in 1-
KW increments
(15 KW Max)
Customers who
move within OUC
territory may stay
on program
Initial customer
deposit is refunded
after 2 years

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R E L I A B I L I T Y • A F F O R D A B I L I T Y • E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T E W A R D S H I P
Billing Approach
Monthly Master
Production Meter
Reading = 50,000 KWH
1 KW
400 KW
Community Solar
Farm
Customer’s Share
(1 KW/400 KW) x 50,000 KWH
• Customers pay $.13/KWH rate
on a monthly basis
• 1st year estimated production
• One master meter read
monthly (OUC hedges output)
• Participating customers are
billed based on their share of
production
• Customers receive virtual net
metering benefits

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R E L I A B I L I T Y • A F F O R D A B I L I T Y • E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T E W A R D S H I P
Lessons Learned
• Needed to identify methods for improving contract negotiations
• Reverse auctions may offer more transparent, competitive
bidding
• Project Siting - 3rd party locations add substantial complexity
Procurement
• Challenged to reduce or eliminate subsidies
• Rate stability was most critical program feature
• Could consider a slightly shorter term
• Unify billing cycles if you can – smart meters help
Program Design

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R E L I A B I L I T Y • A F F O R D A B I L I T Y • E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T E W A R D S H I P
Next Steps
• Completed vendor pre-qualification process
on March 31st
• Pershing Community Solar Project pre-bid
meeting scheduled for April 14th
• Reverse auction to be held in May 2014
• Evaluating rate design and terms
• Goal to install next project by end of 2014
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R E L I A B I L I T Y • A F F O R D A B I L I T Y • E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T E W A R D S H I P
Questions?
Jennifer S. Szaro
Manager, Renewable Energy
OUC
(407) 434-2100
jszaro@ouc.com
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