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Net Metering Program
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Orlando Utilities Commission net metering in Florida

Orlando, St. Cloud and parts of Orange and Osceola.

Type
Municipal
Accounts
250K

What they credit you

Changing on 31 October 2026

Published terms

A system whose complete interconnection application reached OUC before 1 July 2025 keeps a credit of the non-fuel base charge plus fuel, 11.550 cents a kWh on the latest published sheets, until 30 June 2045. Everyone else is credited at the Community Solar Energy Rate, the levelized fuel charge plus 0.7 cents (5.467 cents), until 30 June 2030, and at the levelized fuel charge alone (4.767 cents) after that. A grace period at full retail for the newer group ends on 31 October 2026.

Month to month
From 1 November 2026 exports are credited inside the same billing period instead of rolling forward.

Published terms · checked 2026-10-02 · source

Installers serving OUC customers

Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.

Not sure which to choose?

These are real companies operating in OUC territory. EPC Solar and Bold Energy are listed first because they are the companies we introduce first. Volt Home is listed last. That order is our choice, not a score. The other companies are ordered by reviews, years trading and BBB grade. None of them pays us for placement. Pick the one you want and we will call you to arrange it.

Ordering combines three things we read from primary sources: Google review count and rating, years trading taken from the company’s Better Business Bureau profile rather than its own marketing, and its BBB letter grade. BBB accreditation is shown but never scored, because it is a paid membership rather than a mark of quality.

Check any contractor license yourself at the state register. Do that before you sign anything, with any company, including ours.

What this looks like on a OUC bill

An average Florida household, against a system sized to cover its year. The energy charge is the part that goes to zero. The fixed monthly charge underneath it is the part that never does, and it is the number that decides whether a system pays for itself.

Meter readingkWh
Energy charge$127.51
$127.51
Minimum monthly bill$18.50
Still due$18.50
DirectionReading…

Meter reading falling from 41926 to 41618 kilowatt hours. A 1,104 kilowatt hour month against 1,412 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 308 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $127.51 to $0.00 at 11.55 cents per kilowatt hour. A fixed monthly charge of $18.50 still applies and is not offset.

Florida average household use, 1,104 kWh a month, at this provider’s own published residential rate. The fixed charge is its minimum bill: it lands at zero kilowatt hours, so nothing you generate removes it. OUC Electric Rates (Orlando), effective 1 October 2025.

OUC requirementRequired

Battery backup is mandatory
in OUC territory.

OUC does not credit the power you send back at the rate it charges you to take it.

That does not make solar a bad idea in OUC territory. It changes what you should build. When exports are worth a fraction of retail the credit stops being the return, and the job becomes using more of your own production inside the house, which usually means a larger array than a one for one utility would need.

Sizing is where that gets decided, so ask about it directly. Florida’s state interconnection rule caps generation at 90% of your electrical distribution service rating and says nothing at all about your past usage, and it binds only the investor owned utilities. OUC sets its own limits. Ask OUC what it allows before you accept that a bigger system is off the table.

A battery then does two separate jobs. It moves daytime production into the evening so you use it instead of selling it, and it keeps the house running when the grid goes down. That second job is not a bonus. Panels on their own shut off in an outage, by design, so a roof full of them powers nothing during a storm. That is the part we will not refer around.

So we treat it as a requirement, not an upgrade. We will not refer you for a panels-only system in OUC territory, and you should be skeptical of anyone who quotes you one without raising storage first.

Our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement

If your complete OUC solar application went in after 30 June 2025, you are on the full retail rate only because of a temporary grace period, and it ends on 31 October 2026. From 1 November your exports are credited at the Community Solar Energy Rate instead. Installing before then does not lock in the higher rate; that cutoff was 30 June 2025.

What your installer should be telling you

Confirm the current grace period status directly with OUC before you sign anything. These terms were set by board vote and can move again, and the fuel charge every one of these credits is built on is reset each 1 October; the figures here are from the sheet effective 1 October 2025, the latest OUC has published.

What OUC bills you anyway

In a month when your production covers everything you use, the energy charge can reach zero. This does not. It is the floor under every bill, and it is the number that decides whether a system pays for itself.

The charge
$18.50 a month
How it is set
Read from OUC’s own published electric and water rate schedule for Orlando. From 1 November 2026, when exports start being credited inside the same billing period instead of rolling forward, this fixed charge is the part of the bill that solar cannot reach in any month.

OUC Electric Rates (Orlando), effective 1 October 2025 · checked 2026-09-04 · source

Applying to OUC

What OUC itself requires, as distinct from what the state rule requires. Read from its own published guidelines on the date shown.

The program has a name
TruNet Solar. If you are reading a contract or a rebate form that does not use that name, you are looking at something else.
The line everything hangs on
OUC’s tariff draws it at a complete interconnection application submitted before 1 July 2025: those systems keep the full retail credit all the way to 30 June 2045. That is twenty years of protection, and it is closed. OUC’s solar page words the same line differently, as connected or with an application approved on or before 30 June 2025, so if your dates fall between the two, ask OUC in writing which one it applies to you.
The rate steps down twice, not once
For anyone from 1 July 2025: full retail during the grace period, then the Community Solar Energy Rate until 30 June 2030, then the levelized fuel charge after that. The first step is the big one, from 11.550 cents to 5.467 cents a kWh on the latest published sheets; the second removes the 0.7 cent adder the Community Solar Energy Rate puts on top of fuel, and it is already scheduled.
What full retail is worth today
The TruNet sheet sets the grandfathered credit at the non-fuel base charge plus the fuel charge, using the first-1,000 kWh base charge even for a household that uses more: 6.783 plus 4.767, so 11.550 cents a kWh on the latest published sheets. Above 1,000 kWh a month you buy at 14.050 cents, so even the grandfathered credit is not one for one there. OUC resets the fuel charge each fiscal year from 1 October, so ask for the current figure.
The solar bank ends on 1 November
From 1 November OUC credits exported energy in the billing period it is generated, instead of banking it and rolling it forward, after a final true-up of any remaining bank balance this fall. OUC says a credit left over after your charges stays on the account for future bills. Its page does not say plainly whether grandfathered systems are included, so ask OUC before assuming they are not.
The battery rebate has a price
OUC offers an optional battery storage rebate, but to qualify you must forfeit eligibility for the TruNet full retail rate on anything you export. Read that twice before taking it. In most of Florida a battery improves a poor credit; here, accepting the rebate is what makes the credit poor.
Applications go through the portal only
OUC requires solar applications and supporting documents through its online rebate portal. Mailed and emailed applications are not accepted, and sending one is simply lost time.
Adding panels keeps a grandfathered rate
OUC answers this directly: “An add-on solar PV system will not affect the grandfathered status of an account.” If you are on the pre-July-2025 rate, you can expand without losing it. Keep that answer with your paperwork.
Moving house, selling, or a death in the family
OUC publishes separate answers for selling, renting, moving between two solar homes, and whether a grandfathered rate passes to a spouse. If any of those apply to you, they are worth reading before you sign anything, because the rate is the asset.

From OUC’s published guidelines · checked 2026-08-26 · source

OUC net metering questions

Does OUC offer one for one net metering?
No. A system whose complete interconnection application reached OUC before 1 July 2025 keeps a credit of the non-fuel base charge plus fuel, 11.550 cents a kWh on the latest published sheets, until 30 June 2045. Everyone else is credited at the Community Solar Energy Rate, the levelized fuel charge plus 0.7 cents (5.467 cents), until 30 June 2030, and at the levelized fuel charge alone (4.767 cents) after that. A grace period at full retail for the newer group ends on 31 October 2026.
What does OUC pay for power sent back to the grid?
Changing on 31 October 2026. From 1 November 2026 exports are credited inside the same billing period instead of rolling forward.
Do I need a battery with OUC?
Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because OUC does not credit exports one for one, the return has to come from using your own production rather than selling it, which after dark means storage and usually a larger array than a one for one utility would need. The other half is backup: panels alone shut off in an outage, so a battery is what keeps the house running in a storm. We do not refer panels-only systems in OUC territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.
How do I find my OUC bill?
Sign in at ouc.com. Open My Account, then Billing history. Open the latest bill and save the PDF. Or screenshot the summary page. If you cannot get to it, a rough guess at your average monthly amount is enough to start.
Is there a deadline for OUC customers?
If your complete OUC solar application went in after 30 June 2025, you are on the full retail rate only because of a temporary grace period, and it ends on 31 October 2026. From 1 November your exports are credited at the Community Solar Energy Rate instead. Installing before then does not lock in the higher rate; that cutoff was 30 June 2025.
What is the catch with OUC?
Confirm the current grace period status directly with OUC before you sign anything. These terms were set by board vote and can move again, and the fuel charge every one of these credits is built on is reset each 1 October; the figures here are from the sheet effective 1 October 2025, the latest OUC has published.