Groups say OUC needs to support the needy
Utility criticized for not doing enough to assist low-income families
Orlando’s utility is being assailed by environmental and smart-energy groups as woefully stingy compared with other major Florida utilities in giving customers the ability to conserve electricity and reduce bills as the coronavirus pandemic triggers economic distress.
In particular, Orlando Utilities Commission “demonstrates a lack of serious commitment to help its lowincome customers,” according to representatives of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Earthjustice in a statement to the Florida Public Service Commission.
The PSC on Tuesday will evaluate plans by Florida’s major utilities for assisting their customers with conventional programs in reducing electricity usage through measures such paying for replacement of lights with LED versions, weatherizing doors and windows, sealing air-conditioning ducts and improving insulation. The agency invites comment from customers, industry and groups, such as that from the alliance and Earthjustice, on utility issues.
An OUC spokesman said leadership of his public utility owned by the city of Orlando “strongly disagrees” with the energy alliance and Earthjustice.
“OUC has always exceeded state standards for efficiency and conservation,” spokesman Tim Trudell said.
He said an example of the utility’s energy-savings assistance for low-income customers was partnering with the city of Orlando two years ago in revamping 58 units at the New Horizons apartment complex in Washington Shores.
In addition, Trudell said, OUC provides an online, energy-data portal where customers can “better understand the days and times they use the most.” The utility also underwrites “Project AWESOME,” which provides lessons to fifth graders on the importance of water and energy conservation.
To a large degree, the dispute between energy and environment groups and Orlando’s utility stems from how electricity conservation is pursued and how it is measured.
The evaluation of Florida’s major utilities by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Earthjustice is based on provisions of the Florida Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act, which is overseen by the Public Service Commission.
“OUC is measuring the number of low-income customers they are helping in the dozens while all the other utilities are measuring theirs in the thousands,” said Bradley Marshall, staff attorney for Earthjustice’s Florida office.
According to figures compiled by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, OUC’s energy-savings assistance each year will apply to 73 low-income customers. OUC has about a quarter-million electric customers.
By comparison, Duke with 1.8 million customers in Florida will help 5,000 lowincome customers annually and Tampa Electric with about 750,000 customers will help 6,500 low-income customers annually.
Compared with OUC, each of the other two utilities plans to assist a far higher
percentage of their customers and to provide each customer the ability to reduce power bills more significantly.
Meanwhile, OUC has moved away from adhering to the formalized conservation strategies stemming from the act, citing challenges from having a preponderance of customers who are low-income, apartment renters and are not readily helped through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act.
According to OUC analysis, 65 percent of Orlando residents live in rental properties, Orlando renters rank fifth-most burdened by rent payments in the U.S., and 33 percent of OUC customers live on less than $35,000 in annual income.
OUC prefers “tailoring efficiency programs to fit our unique customer base,” Trudell said.
The problem with that is that OUC’s efforts are not “not measurable, quantifiable and verifiable,” Marshall said.
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, an advocate for greener, more affordable electricity in the Southeast, previously has lauded OUC’s conservation outreach, but last month described its efficiency-improvement provisions for low-income households as a “joke.”
A blog post written by alliance lawyer George Cavros cites OUC as the only large utility that limits its low-income program to single-family homes even as most customers live in apartments.
“OUC’s program is especially troubling considering that it has the highest percentage of low-income customers of any large utility in Florida – at 43 percent,” Cavros said. “Yet its proposed low-income energy efficiency program, Residential Efficiency Delivered, is projected to reach a mere 73 customers per year.”
The alliance’s director in Florida, Susan Glickman, said OUC has progressively worsened in helping customers realize energy savings.
“The problem is that while OUC had a decent performance in 2017 and 2018, its performance in 2019 was quite poor and OUC’s proposed savings for 2020 are abysmal,” Glickman said. “And their low income program is still the weakest of all the large electric utilities.”
The Sierra Club also has joined in encouraging Orlando’s utility to respond with more transparency toward improving energy efficiency and lowering power bills for customers at or near poverty levels.