Orlando Utilities Guide: Providers, 2026 Rates and How to Start Service

OUC supplies water in the City of Orlando and portions of Orange County, the city charges for sewer and collects trash, and Orange County Utilities keeps its own county system (OUC water services).

The Orlando Utilities Commission, known on every bill as OUC, has served Central Florida since 1923 and answers to a five-member Commission that sets its rates and operating policies (OUC about page). Its headquarters is Reliable Plaza at 100 W. Anderson St., and OUC states that payments are not accepted at its Commercial Service Center listed there (OUC business locations).

Sewer is a city charge, assessed by the Water Reclamation Division's sewer billing section, and the city states that it shows up on the OUC bill (City of Orlando sewer billing). Trash works the same way: city crews haul garbage, recycling and yard waste, while OUC keeps the collection accounts and bills them monthly (City of Orlando Solid Waste Division). City Hall, listed on those city pages, is at 400 South Orange Avenue, 407.246.2121, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (City of Orlando sewer billing).

Orange County Utilities, at 9150 Curry Ford Road, keeps separate accounts, deposits and a phone line, (407) 836-5515 (Orange County Utilities water service). OUC's rate sheet notes that bills for customers outside city limits may show Orange County wastewater charges, and OUC's start page links a service territory map for checking an address (OUC start, stop or move).

An Orlando home on OUC pays an $18.50 monthly customer charge plus a non-fuel base charge and a fuel charge on each kWh, under rates effective October 1, 2025 (OUC electric rates).

The Orlando-area residential schedule splits the energy price in two. The non-fuel base charge is 6.783 cents per kWh for the first 1,000 kWh and 9.283 cents for every kWh above that, and the fuel charge is 4.767 cents per kWh on all usage (OUC electric rates). The rate sheet sets the minimum bill at the customer charge.

OUC posts a separate St. Cloud-area electric rate schedule beside the Orlando-area one (OUC service rates and costs). The same page states that if any published rate differs from the OUC tariff filed with the Florida Public Service Commission, the tariff prevails.

What is changing: OUC lists new DemandLevel charges as pending approval by the Florida Public Service Commission and effective November 2026. In the Orlando area the residential charge is listed as $5 at Tier 1 (0 to 7.999 kW), $10 at Tier 2 (8 to 11.999 kW) and $15 at Tier 3 (12+ kW) (OUC service rates and costs). The same page lists water rates as effective October 1, 2026, while the electric rates are still the ones effective October 1, 2025.

OUC names a combination of coal, natural gas, landfill gas and solar energy as its power supply, keeps a combustion waste storage area at the Curtis H. Stanton Energy Center, and moves power over nearly 400 circuit miles of high-voltage transmission lines (OUC electric services).

From October 1, 2026, a typical Orlando house with the smallest meter owes OUC $10.50 a month before any water flows, (OUC water rate schedule), and the city sewer line adds $28.03 plus $6.77 for each thousand gallons (City of Orlando sewer billing).

Water use is priced in rising steps. Each thousand gallons costs $0.90 up to 3,000 gallons a month, $1.40 for the next 4,000, $2.50 for the next 12,000, $8.50 for the next 11,000 and $16.25 for all use over 30,000 gallons (OUC water rate schedule). OUC has drawn its supply from the Lower Floridan Aquifer since 1957 and pumps about 35 billion gallons a year across a 200-square-mile service area (OUC water services). Added fluoride ended on July 1, 2025, the effective date of the Florida Farm Bill (Senate Bill 700) that the governor signed on May 20, 2025 (OUC water services).

The sewer charge is figured from the water meter. The city's own worked example, a house using 7,000 gallons, owes $75.42 in sewer inside city limits; a home beyond the limits but on city sewer pays $35.04 plus $8.46 per thousand gallons, and usage counts only to 14,000 gallons (City of Orlando sewer billing). The city has already posted the next steps: the inside-city base charge reaches $36.13 and the commodity charge $8.72 in FY 2030 (City of Orlando sewer billing).

The Orlando water service guide covers OUC deposits, water quality and watering rules in depth, and the Orlando sewer services guide covers connection fees, leak credits and the Iron Bridge and Conserv II plants. This hub keeps only the headline numbers.

OUC starts electric and water service through a myOUC request or the customer service number (407) 423-9018, with a $25 connection charge applied to the first bill (OUC start, stop or move).

That single $25 customer charge applies to every OUC service switched on at one location on the same order and the same day, so OUC charges it once per location and order rather than once per service (OUC service rates and costs). OUC may ask for a deposit, judged on the applicant's credit record, the services at the premise and any earlier OUC account; the Orlando water service guide explains how that deposit is returned (OUC start, stop or move).

The clock decides move-in day. Where the Orlando home has no live service, OUC can finish a weekday order the same day when everything is in place by 4:00 p.m.; later orders roll to the next business day. Requests are completed Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays and OUC-observed holidays such as the day after Thanksgiving (OUC start, stop or move).

Homes on the county system deal with Orange County Utilities, which wants three days of notice by phone at (407) 836-5515 or through its own online account. Its posted deposits are $41 for a water-only account and $135 for a water and wastewater account, each plus a $16 initiation fee during regular business hours, or $21 outside them (Orange County Utilities water service).

Paying late costs an OUC customer the greater of $5.00 or 1.5 percent of the balance, charged five days past the due date. A meter cut off for nonpayment is reconnected for $45.00 weekdays 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., excluding holidays, and a digital meter reconnects on its own once the bill is paid (OUC service rates and costs).

The City of Orlando collects garbage, recycling and yard waste once a week each, and every item must be at the curb before 6 a.m. on the scheduled pickup day (City of Orlando Solid Waste Division).

Garbage is bagged and goes in the city-provided cart, while recycling goes loose in its own city cart, with no bags. Carts may be set out from 5 p.m. the night before, at least two feet from mailboxes, utility boxes and trees, with handle and wheels facing the house. A cart still at the curb the morning after pickup may draw a $25 fee (City of Orlando Solid Waste Division).

Orlando yard waste means grass clippings, leaves, branches and twigs, placed in bags or bundled. Large items also go out on the yard waste day, and refrigerators and freezers must have their doors removed first. A missed large item can be reported online, by email to [email protected] or by calling Solid Waste at 407.246.2314 (City of Orlando Solid Waste Division).

Oil, pesticides, medical waste and wet paint do not go in city carts, though opened, cleaned paint cans with dry leftover paint may. Hazardous waste is taken free of charge at the Orange County Landfill, 5901 Young Pine Road, and at the Porter Road Transfer Station, 1326 Good Homes Road, Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (City of Orlando Solid Waste Division).

OUC takes Orlando outage and water problem reports around the clock at (407) 423-9018, by text to 69682 and online through myOUC (OUC report an outage).

A text of OUT to 69682 logs the Orlando outage and sends back the cause and a restoration estimate, while the OUC outage map shows how large each event is and where (OUC report an outage). A wire down, a utility pole down or hit by a car, a broken or missing water meter lid or a water main break is a call to customer service 24/7 at the same number. A downed wire that is sparking, smoking or burning, or any situation with flames, is a 911 call instead.

OUC also takes reports of trees touching power lines through its online form or at (407) 423-9018 (OUC report an outage). OUC's watering restrictions allow two irrigation days a week under Daylight Saving Time and one under Eastern Standard Time, and its best practices add no watering from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (OUC water services). The Orlando water service guide lists those watering days in full.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the OUC rate, water, start-service and outage pages, the City of Orlando Solid Waste and sewer billing pages, and the Orange County Utilities water service page.