OUC-The Reliable One is a municipal utility owned by the citizens of Orlando. It provides electricity and water services to customers in Orlando, St. Cloud, and parts of Orange and Osceola counties.



OUC's heritage dates back to 1922 when the city of Orlando bought Orlando Water & Light Co., a privately held company in operation since 1901. City leaders issued $975,000 in bonds to purchase and improve the utility.
In 1923, the state Legislature granted the city a charter to establish the Orlando Utilities Commission to operate the system. And after voters approved $575,000 more in bonds to expand the utility, OUC built a new, larger plant, the Lake Ivanhoe Power and Water Plant on North Orange Avenue, which now stands as a performing arts center.

Orlando's initial $1.55 million investment has grown into an electric and water utility with more than $2 billion in assets and annual operating revenues in excess of $673 million. Total electric sales have soared from 7 million kilowatt hours per year to more than 8.5 trillion kilowatt hours per year. Likewise, water sales have risen from less than 700,000 gallons a year to 31 billion gallons a year.

Over the past 90 years, OUC's customer base has grown from about 5,000 electric and water customers to more than 227,000, serving a population of more than 342,000.