As Director of Gas Generation, Millard Long oversees all of OUC’s gas-fired power plant assets, which produce a combined 1,110 megawatts of electricity.
As OUC marks its centennial, we take great pride in sharing the stories of the individuals behind Orlando’s hometown utility. This series of articles commemorates the legacy of OUC in our 100th year (1923-2023) of service as The Reliable One.
Millard Long’s memory of his first day on the job at OUC’s Indian River Plant (IRP) in Titusville remains as vivid as ever: He walked up the stairs of the entrance, crossed terrazzo floors and made his way to where the magic happens in energy generation, the turbine deck. The sights and sounds of power production in action were inspiring, perhaps even a bit intoxicating.
“Someday I’m going to run this place,” Millard recalls saying to himself on that day in October 1990. He was 34 years old and knew, as Millard tells it, “absolutely nothing” about the generation and distribution of electricity.
Hired as office supervisor, a role that encompassed budgeting, conducting plant tours, sweeping floors and just about anything else that needed to be done, Millard fast-tracked through a series of promotions that brought him closer to his ultimate goal. Every day at the plant was another opportunity to learn about the steam- and gas-fired turbines that were sending energy into the grid. He worked on power-plant maintenance contracts, supervised plant operations and maintenance, and took on the heavy lift of managing the finances for all of OUC’s power production and power marketing, the latter becoming a responsibility while running IRP. He was multitasking before that was even a thing.
“I made the commitment I was going to run this place one day, and if you want to accomplish such a goal you must do any and all tasks in order to learn how to do everything,” he says.
Millard’s appetite for acquiring knowledge at IRP served him and OUC well. When Reliant Energy bought the plant’s steam turbines in 1999, OUC tasked Millard with the job of helping the new owner set up its operations.
Around 2004, and while still “on loan” to Reliant, running OUC’s remaining operations at IRP and managing the finances for all of OUC’s generation assets, Millard relocated to Stanton Energy Center (SEC) in East Orlando. The move was bittersweet, for it gave him a home at OUC’s flagship energy operation but separated him from his beloved IRP, a site facing the Indian River in Brevard County.
It also put him in line to take on his greatest challenges yet – manager of the planned Stanton Combined Cycle B gas unit, a 300-megawatt plant he would help open in 2010, followed by his ascension to director of gas generation in 2018.
Today, Millard oversees all of OUC’s gas-fired turbine operations at IRP, SEC and Osceola Generating Station, a recent acquisition, plus – and separately under a contract with the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority – the emergency generation units at Orlando International Airport’s new South Terminal C.
“We’re capable of generating a combined 1,110 megawatts of affordable and reliable electricity for our customers,” he says.
Asked to point to the proudest moment of his career, Millard gives the question some thought and then responds emphatically: “My marriage of 37 years and three children.” Two of his children, Debin and Millard the III, work at OUC.
That said, he says he owes much of his success to the work environment at IRP and the current Vice President of Electric and Water Production, Wade Gillingham. The implementation of OUC’s key values of Partnering Together and Driving Innovation have both led to a work environment and team that Millard is proud to be a part of.
“Indian River allowed me to learn anything and everything at the plant level and beyond. It didn’t hold me back because I wasn’t an engineer,” he says. “Wade, he’s willing to let you develop your skills – both technical and professional – and shepherd you along the way.”
