OUC Commissioners Approve Plan to Add 149 Megawatts of Solar Power

The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC – The Reliable One) took a major step today in transitioning to renewable energy resources with the approval of a plan to add 149 megawatts of solar power to OUC’s generation portfolio doubling the utility’s current efforts. The additional solar capacity would provide enough energy to power 27,000 residential customers.

At their monthly meeting, Commissioners gave OUC the go-ahead to negotiate two separate 20-year power purchase agreements (PPA) with clean-energy provider Invenergy.

Under the proposed PPAs, Invenergy would build and operate two 74.5-megawatt solar arrays, each covering 500 acres, near existing OUC transmission lines in Osceola County. The arrays would come online in 2022 and 2023. OUC also plans to test battery storage as back-up generation when cloud cover or nightfall inhibit solar power production.

“As Orlando has grown and transformed over the years, so has OUC. And now, OUC is powering the rapid growth of our community with clean, renewable energy and innovative storage technologies,” said Clint Bullock, OUC General Manager & CEO.

Coupled with the 108.5 megawatts of solar scheduled to come online next year, the proposed PPAs would make OUC the largest user of solar energy in Florida on a watt-per-customer basis, according to the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.