Board endorses staff recommendation for 12-month OUC power extension, rejects short-term solar surcharge

City staff presented options for covering Winter Park’s OUC load while syncing the city’s larger FMPA contract. Lisa (staff) explained that OUC’s portion of the city’s load is roughly 11–20 megawatts and that staff’s short-term choices are either a 12- or 18-month extension with OUC (several pricing points tied to varying solar percentages) or letting FMPA pick up the load under the existing contract. “No matter what we do, we expect it to go up around almost 13%,” Lisa said, summarizing the expectation of higher costs across options.

Lisa outlined relative increases if the city follows the staff approach: sticking with FMPA for 12 months is projected to be about 12.56% higher; an OUC 12-month no-solar option was shown as roughly 16% higher (about a 3% premium over FMPA). She also gave high-level dollar ranges for short-term surcharges (12-month premium estimates ranged roughly $250,000 to $2,600,000 depending on solar option). Board members pressed operational and resiliency tradeoffs — one member noted moving fully to FMPA could reduce the city’s substations and resiliency, requiring construction to maintain looped feeds — and questioned why negotiations had not been completed sooner. After discussion, staff asked for the board’s recommendation; Lisa moved the staff recommendation (12-month OUC extension, no extra solar) and the board endorsed the recommendation by voice vote, with at least one member recorded as opposed.

The board asked staff to return materials to the city commission with the board’s endorsement and requested continued updates on solicitation timing and any transmission or integration costs that arise during implementation. The staff presentation emphasized the short-term nature of the extension and the plan to take the city’s full load to market when the FMPA contract and the OUC contract can be aligned.