What is Public Power?
KUA customers are more than just customers — they’re customer-owners! A public power utility is owned and operated by the community it serves. It exists to provide a public service to the local residents and businesses. Public power utilities are directly accountable to their community owners.
Florida has 33 public power utilities, serving 1.5 million customer meters or more than 3 million Floridians — about 15% of the state’s population. Nationally, more than 2,000 cities and towns in the United States light up their homes, businesses, and communities with public power – electricity from a community-owned, locally operated utility.
Local Ownership
Being a customer of a public power utility provides a great advantage to residents by providing local control, establishing policies that mirror the community’s priorities, and preserving rate stability for customers. The public trust and transparency of public power is a key factor that separates KUA and other community-owned utilities from investor-owned utilities.
As a community-owned utility, KUA makes decisions locally. Our board of directors serve as policymakers for the utility and act as a voice for the community and our customers. Board members come from a diverse network of professions, and each brings a unique perspective that ultimately reflects the community they serve. The beauty of public power is that policies that are approved also have a direct impact on the board. Therefore, important decisions aim to keep ratepayers at the forefront while continuing to enhance reliability and system improvement.
Community Investment
Kissimmee and Osceola County are greatly enriched by having a community-owned utility that aims to improve the quality of life for its residents and build a more vibrant community. As part of our mission, we partner with the community through various avenues, such as our community sponsorship program, good neighbor fund, student scholarships, and community events.
Another benefit unique to KUA that customers can take advantage of is our big grill. The Big Grill is a trailer-mounted barbecue grill that boasts 40 square feet of cooking surface, twin 40-pound propane tanks. Kissimmee Utility Authority offers this grill FREE of charge to schools, churches, nonprofits and community organizations within our service territory in Kissimmee. KUA will deliver the grill, pick it up and supply the propane – all at no cost to the customer. To reserve the grill for your group’s next event, visit the website at http://www.thebiggrill.com.
You can view the full range of KUA’s community involvement here.