ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Utilities Commission customers could pay a little less for electricity next year. The utility plans to ask its board to lower its fuel rate, a change that would shave about $5 off a typical monthly residential bill.
Board members are set to vote on Dec. 15. If they approve it, the lower rate would not show up right away. Savings would start in April 2027, and the utility hopes to hold them through the rest of the year.
Across all of its electric customers, the cut adds up to roughly $3.3 million a month. For a household that uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours in a month, the bill would come to about $128.85, which OUC says is $7.62 below the average at peer utilities in Florida. Business savings would depend on how much power each customer uses.
The reason is natural gas. OUC burns mostly gas to make electricity, and gas has come in cheaper than the utility planned for when it built its 2027 budget. Oil prices have jumped with the war involving Iran, but the domestic gas supply has not followed, chief financial officer Chris McCullion said.
About 300,000 customers get electric, water or solar service from OUC, which covers Orlando and St. Cloud as well as unincorporated pockets of Orange and Osceola counties.
It has trimmed fuel charges before. In 2023 the utility lowered pass-through fuel costs, which it said cut monthly electric bills by an average of 10%, and it reduced fuel rates by another 5% in July 2024.
Chief executive Clint Bullock said the utility knows families are paying more for nearly everything and that every dollar matters to them.
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