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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 TA L S T E W A R D S H I P

Bringing Solar to the CommunityJennifer 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 TA 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 TA 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 TA L S T E W A R D S H I P

OUC’s Solar Projects

ProjectCapacity

(KW)

Stanton Solar Farm 5,910

Customer Installations 4,727

Commercial Aggregation 418

Community Solar 400

Total 11,455

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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 TA L S T E W A R D S H I P

OUC’s Customer Solar Programs

• Solar Production Incentive• Provides $0.05/KWH for producing energy from

solar PV

• $.03/KWH for commercial solar thermal

• 5 year contract term with optional renewals

• Net metering for PV systems

• Solar Thermal Rebate• Upfront rebate of up to $1,000 for residential hot

water

• Solar Billed Solution• Provides no/low interest loans through the

Orlando Federal Credit Union (OFCU) for

residential solar hot water and PV

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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 TA L S T E W A R D S H I P

• 2 MW and below• Working to automate• One-page

interconnection• 90% of service rating• No fee

Application

• Requires permitted system• Requires licensed

contractor• OUC/FSEC visual inspection

Inspection• Currently $ credit on

monthly bill at retail rate• No annual true up• Moving to KWH credits

Operation

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Net Metering and Interconnection

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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 TA L S T E W A R D S H I P

OUC’s Community Solar Farm Model

Customer

Customer

Customer

Customers

400 KWCommunity Solar Array

Solar Developer Builds, Owns and Operates

the Solar Array and Sells to

OUC

Customers Subscribe to 1-KW Blocks of PV

System BUT Pay Monthly Based on

Energy (KWH)

OUC Administers and Markets

Program, Bills Customers

and Pays Developer

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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 TA 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

• 111 customers on waiting list (1052 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 TA 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 TA 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 TA L S T E W A R D S H I P

What is Virtual Net Metering?

• Customer subscribes to share of solar project

• All energy produced from array goes directly into grid

• OUC compares customer’s energy usage with energy production of customer’s share of array

• If customer’s KWH solar share is greater than the customer’s consumption used that month, customer’s bill will be credited for excess energy

Customer “feeds back” 200 unused solar KWH

Customer uses 1,000 solar KWH

Customer share of solar farm produces

1,200 KWH

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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 TA L S T E W A R D S H I P12

Questions?