KUA Dedicates Substation to Employees

KISSIMMEE, Fla., May 16, 1:30 pm — The 281 employees of the Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA) gathered together on Tuesday morning for the dedication of the utility’s newest electric substation – the Employee Substation.

Back in 1995, the KUA Board of Directors issued a proclamation naming the planned substation on Boggy Creek Road in honor of the employees of the utility. In preparation for yesterday’s dedication, each employee was given the opportunity to develop a personal message that was engraved into one of 300 brick pavers that are a permanent part of the substation floor. After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the employees were given charcoal pencils and commemorative paper to do a rubbing of their individual brick.

The substation was constructed on land owned by KUA at the corner of Boggy Creek and Hilliard Isle Roads in unincorporated Osceola county. Construction began in May 2000 and the substation is expected to be operational this summer. The $14 million substation project also includes the construction of a 10.5-mile 69kV transmission line that will tie the new substation to KUA’s Denn John substation in Kissimmee and to Florida Power Corporation’s Meadow Woods South substation in south Orlando.

The dedication event featured brief speeches by KUA’s President & General Manager Jim Welsh and KUA Board Chairman Larry Walter. An engraved stone at the entrance to the substation says, “This electric substation is dedicated to the team of employees of the Kissimmee Utility Authority who work together toward a common vision… serving the customer.”

KUA is Florida‘s 7th largest municipally-owned utility serving 53,000 electric, water and Internet customers in five Central Florida counties. KUA celebrates its 100th year of serving the community in 2001.

Contact: Chris Gent, Manager of Communications
(407) 933-7777 ext. 1116
cgent@kua.com