The Electric Utility Department began serving retail electric customers on June 1, 2005, as the City of Winter Park established its own municipal electric utility.
In a referendum election of September 9, 2003, the citizens of Winter Park voted overwhelmingly to exercise the buy-out option in the city’s franchise agreement with Progress Energy Florida and to have the city own and operate its own utility.
To facilitate this transition, the city is built two electric substations and purchased Progress Energy Florida’s electric distribution facilities within the city. A utility services contractor has been hired to perform the operations and maintenance of the electric system. The City has established the customer service, meter reading, billing, vegetation management and all the policies and procedures necessary to operate a utility.
The city has committed to its future customers that it will undertake a strong program to improve the reliability of electric service. This will include, but not be limited, to putting significant portion of the power lines underground.