JUNE 2007

In This Issue:
  • Letter from the GM
  • OUC Linemen Rank Best in Nation
  • Meter Readers Boast Near Perfect Efficiency
  • OUC Breaks Ground on Green Admin Building
  • Employees Make Difference in Community
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    • Letter from the General Manager & CEO

    Last month, OUC — The Reliable One and the City of St. Cloud celebrated the 10-year anniversary of a powerful partnership. OUC began operating the St. Cloud electric system in May of 1997 under a long-term agreement with the City.

    Along with better electric reliability and service, St. Cloud has benefited from the more than $600,000 OUC has contributed to local St. Cloud community projects, programs and activities.

    For more information about the partnership - including its history, how it has improved service for customers and helped fuel St. Cloud's economic and community growth - please see this brochure that was mailed to all of OUC's St. Cloud customers in May.

    Thanks to the foundation built during the past 10 years, OUC looks forward to providing reliable, affordable electric service to St. Cloud - and all of our customers - for many years to come.
    Sincerely,

    OUC General Manager & CEO

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    Did You Know?

    During 2006, OUC employees pumped 32.7 billion gallons of water, produced 7.7 million megawatts of power, installed 1.9 million feet of electrical wire, answered 528,000 customer phone calls and set nearly 8,000 new electric and water meters.

    		 OUC Linemen Best in the Nation

    In a competition that measures skill, speed and safety, lineworkers from OUC-The Reliable One bested 58 teams from across the country to take home the top prize at the American Public Power Association’s Seventh Annual Lineworkers’ Rodeo Competition in Marietta, Ga.

    A three-man OUC team of James Alexander (at right), Richard Boley and Chris Hosier recorded the best overall score to win the event’s prestigious “Top Journeyman Award.” OUC General Manger and CEO Ken Ksionek said the award is a testament to OUC lineworkers’ ability to work safely and efficiently.

    “A perfect score means that they demonstrated the highest level of skill with a perfect safety score, all the while working against the clock,” Ksionek said. “Our lineworkers perform physically demanding work in all kinds of inclement weather, and this award proves their skill and dedication are the best in the nation."

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      Meter Readers Boast Near Perfect Efficiency

    OUC also honored its OUC's meter readers, who ended 2006 reading more than 4 million meters with an accuracy rate of 99.94 percent.

    The OUC governing board recently honored the utility's Meter Readers of the Year for 2006. In Orlando, the award went to David Roncaglione for reading 155,167 meters with an accuracy of 99.98 percent. Jose Rodriguez read 120,725 meters with an accuracy of 100 percent to win the award in St. Cloud for the sixth year in a row.

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      OUC Breaks Ground on New Administration Building

    After more than a year of extensive preparation, OUC has begun the first phases of construction on our new headquarters to be located just west of the existing Administration building on 500 S. Orange Ave.

    The state-of-the-art facility will feature roof top solar panels, rainwater collection for irrigation, a raised floor access system and high efficiency air conditioning systems.

    OUC Commissioner Maylen Dominguez Arlen
    (from left), Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Commissioner Tommy Boroughs, OUC CEO &
    GM Ken Ksionek, OUC Board President Lonnie
    Bell and Commissioner Katie Porta break ground on OUC's new Administration Building.

     The seven-story office will include four floors of parking and be the first commercial building in Orlando to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified.

    Surveying and site clearing has begun with an eye toward a Fall 2008 completion date.

    Speaking to Commissioners at OUC’s March board meeting, CEO and GM Ken Ksionek described the new facility as a building of the future that will serve OUC for the next 50 to 60 years. In his “State of the City” address, Mayor and OUC Commissioner Buddy Dyer praised the new admin building for utilizing the latest in high tech conservation and energy efficient features.

    To learn more about the building and OUC’s other green initiatives, read our 2006 annual report Planning for the Future.

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      Employees Making a Difference in Our Community
    The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) honored OUC this month for raising more than $25,000 for the 2007 Walk to Cure Diabetes. OUC Corporate Services Vice President Al Frazier served as JDRF Corporate Recruitment Chair for Central Florida.

    Thanks to OUC’s creative employees and team captains, we developed fun methods to raise money – including benefit breakfasts, car washes and silent auctions. Thanks to the hard work of our 16 team captains and 70 walkers, OUC exceeded our fund-raising goal by 20 percent.

    Additionally, the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida announced that the organization’s annual Golf Challenge will be renamed the Doug Spencer Golf Challenge in honor of OUC’s Vice President of Customer Connection. Spencer’s tireless commitment was shown last month when he played 98 holes of golf to personally raise $25,240 as the event’s top fund-raiser.

    “He brings the same energy to our board as he does to OUC,” Coalition for the Homeless CEO Brent Trotter said of Spencer, who has raised $250,000 through the Golf Challenge the past 11 years.

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