At the December 10 OUC Board of Commissioners meeting, Commissioners approved a new pricing program called PeakSHIFT. This multiyear plan will empower customers with new opportunities to save money, better align costs with how electricity is used, and ensure OUC’s power grid remains resilient. By supporting the efficient use of electricity, this program will help OUC reach its goal of net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
“PeakSHIFT will better equip OUC to meet current energy challenges, integrate cleaner energy resources, and keep the grid reliable for future generations,” said Clint Bullock, OUC General Manager & CEO. “As we implement this modernized pricing structure, we will continue to engage with customers and our community to ensure that their electricity remains affordable, reliable and sustainable.”
PeakSHIFT will be rolled out to customers over the next several years. The components of the program and their tentative implementation dates include:
- TruNet Solar: Adjusts compensation for future rooftop solar to reflect industry changes and address systemwide cost equity concerns to ensure affordability of rates for all OUC customers. Takes effect July 1, 2025.
- DemandLevel: Reduces variable non-fuel energy cost per kWh by 14% (~1 cent) and adds a tiered fixed charge to encourage reducing distribution peak demand (the point where each residential and small commercial customer’s usage is at its highest 15-minute average within the month), rebalance costs and reflect individual customers’ usage of the electric grid. Implementing early 2026.
- Shift & Save: Introduces an industry-proven time-of-day pricing plan incentivizing residential and small commercial customers to shift energy use away from “peak” to lower, less expensive, and under-utilized demand hours. Begins early 2027.
- SunChoice Solar: Enables customers to subscribe to solar-generated electricity without upfront costs at economical large-scale solar farm pricing. Note: SunChoice Solar was approved by the OUC Board of Commissioners in September and was effective on October 1, 2024.
OUC announced this proposal to modernize pricing structures on May 30, 2024, and conducted a public workshop on June 13, 2024, to unveil the initial PeakSHIFT proposal.
Since then, OUC has actively engaged in discussions with stakeholders, customers, social and environmental advocacy groups, and other community members. All the input was analyzed and integrated into an updated proposal, which is the final plan shared above.
Customer Bill Impacts from PeakSHIFT
PeakSHIFT is designed to be “revenue neutral,” which means that it is not intended to make more money for OUC. About 50% percent of customers will see no change or a decrease in their monthly bill even without shifting usage to off-peak periods. About 80% percent of customers will see a decrease or increase of $3 in their monthly bill, assuming the customer doesn’t change their usage.
The overall goal is to benefit all OUC customers by keeping rates affordable for all customers by optimizing the grid as OUC meets the growing demands of our region.
Next Steps
OUC is committed to educating customers about PeakSHIFT and will spend the next 24 months working to inform them and demonstrate opportunities to save.
“OUC has been the City of Orlando’s biggest partner on our journey to becoming the most sustainable city in the southeastern U.S. Their record of balancing affordability, along with reliability and sustainability over the course of our long-term partnership is evident that they do the right thing for their customers and our community. I am confident that PeakSHIFT is the best path forward for our residents on all these accounts,” said Orlando Mayor and OUC Board Commissioner Buddy Dyer.
For more information, please visit: OUCPeakSHIFT.com.