OUC became the title sponsor of the OUC Half Marathon & 5K in downtown Orlando in 1999, a tradition that would continue for the next decade. Putting its own twist on the race that first started in 1976, OUC tapped fire hydrants to provide runners with refreshing H2OUC.
Part of the Downtown Skyline Over the decades, OUC has powered the City of Orlando and provided one of the few constants in the City’s oft-changing skyline.
Orlando Welcomes New Millennium
2005 as then-Governor Jeb Bush called for
With lasers and fireworks from Sydney,
statewide conservation.
Australia, to Orlando’s Lake Eola, cities around
As OUC moved from the Administration
the globe greeted the new millennium with a
From 1968 until 2001, the four-sided lit
Building to its new home in Reliable Plaza
flash — but without so much as a flicker of
Orlando Utilities sign atop the Administration
in 2008, the neon sign was removed from
their electric power grids. The rollover in the
Building stood like a beacon at the south end
the old building, cleaned and renovated
U.S. and Canada was monitored closely by the
of Orange Avenue. It went dark only briefly
before being relocated to the new facility.
North American Electricity Reliability Council,
in 1979 in recognition of the oil embargo.
In keeping with the energy and water
which reported that no Y2K events affected
efficiency of Reliable Plaza and OUC’s support
electricity production, transmission or delivery.
In 2001, the original sign was replaced with a new neon blue and green OUC logo
of water conservation, the familiar droplet
featuring a light bulb and faucet. OUC would
from the faucet was removed from the sign
deployed to strategic locations stood by as
turn out the lights on the sign once more in
and the logo.
the year 2000 began. All eyes were on critical
At OUC, nearly 300 employees who were
power, water and information management systems, but none had problems adjusting to the date change. OUC’s success was attributed to thousands of hours of work over the prior 2.5 years, including the implementation of a Y2K initiative.
In 2001, OUC launched a print advertising campaign to help recruit a diverse workforce.
Fuel Diversity: Stanton A and B Natural Gas Generating Units Come Online steam generators and a steam turbine, which
begin commercial operation in 2010;
went commercial on October 1, 2003. The
however, the gasification component was
efficient and environmentally advanced unit
cancelled in 2007 due to environmental
was a joint development project among
regulation uncertainty. OUC and Southern
OUC, Southern Company, the Florida
Company proceeded with the construction
Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) and
of a 300-MW combined-cycle natural gas
Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA). The unit
plant. The unit came online in February 2010
was built north of the two existing coal units
and is owned and operated by OUC.
on 60 acres of the 3,280-acre Stanton Energy Center site. OUC and partner Southern Company An important aspect of OUC’s generation
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received a U.S. Department of Energy Grant
asset restructuring plan was to invest in
for Clean Coal project in 2004. The grant
clean, modern technology that provided fuel
was awarded to help build a $557 million,
diversity. The Stanton A and B units provide
285-MW advanced coal gasification facility
a combined 933 MWs of clean generation.
at SEC as part of the department’s Clean
Stanton A is a 633-MW, natural gas-fired
Coal Power Initiative. The project was
combined-cycle unit with heat-recovery
expected to break ground in 2007 and
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