OUC Electric Bill Orlando: New DemandLevel Charge of $5, $10 or $15 Starts on November Bills
HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE & CONSUMER · ORLANDO
Orlando Utilities Commission customers are seeing a new line on their electric bills this month. Under DemandLevel, which OUC says begins with the November 2026 bill for most customers, the price of each kilowatt-hour falls by 12.5% and a new monthly DemandLevel charge — tier 1, 2 or 3 — is added, set by the single highest 15 minutes of electricity use in the previous month.
For Orlando residential customers, OUC’s published rate schedule effective November 1, 2026 lists the DemandLevel charges as $5 a month at tier 1, $10 at tier 2 and $15 at tier 3. November’s tier is based on October’s peak, so the first charge most households see was set by their busiest quarter-hour last month, not by anything they do this month.
How the new charge works
OUC describes the bill as now reflecting two ways a household uses electricity. Consumption — total energy used over the month — is charged at the reduced per-kilowatt-hour rate, down 12.5%. Demand — the peak amount pulled from the grid at one time — sets the DemandLevel tier: the highest level of energy, in kilowatts, used in any single 15-minute window during the preceding bill cycle.
The tier is not permanent. OUC says a household’s peak demand resets each billing cycle, so its tier can change monthly, and the utility estimates the lower consumption rate will offset most of the new DemandLevel charge, depending on usage patterns. Customers can see their demand and consumption details in the Usage Dashboard in their myOUC account, which is where OUC directs households who want to track — and try to lower — the peak that sets next month’s tier.
OUC Power Pass customers, on the pre-pay program, are treated on a daily cycle: OUC says their DemandLevel charges begin with their daily October usage, the previous month’s peak still sets the tier, and the monthly charge is divided into daily increments — the standard tier divided by 30.4 — with tier 1 charges starting at 16 cents a day for Orlando customers and 17 cents a day for St. Cloud customers.
Why OUC says it is changing the bill
DemandLevel is part of OUC’s PeakSHIFT pricing changes. The utility says the structure is intended to help customers stagger their energy use where possible to reduce high-demand moments — periods when a lot of electricity is used at the same time — and to support delaying future generation needs. By reducing demand spikes across the system, OUC says, PeakSHIFT reduces or delays the need to add expensive new power sources.
OUC serves Orlando from its base downtown; readers in the area can place the change alongside our Downtown Orlando hub coverage. This desk’s other household-cost story this month is the state insurance filing: Florida homeowners insurance rate decreases of up to 12.1%. New-resident cost guides include Lake Nona for new residents. All of this desk’s coverage is collected in the Homeowners Insurance & Consumer archive, part of the Citizen’s beat reporters.
Our standards: this story is reported only from OUC’s official DemandLevel guidance and its published rate schedule named below. It is general information about a utility pricing change, not personal financial advice. If any fact here proves wrong, our Corrections policy applies and the fix will be noted on this story.
Sources & notes
- Orlando Utilities Commission — “What Is DemandLevel?” official customer guidance, ouc.com (consumption rate reduced by 12.5% per kWh; tier set by the highest 15-minute usage in the previous month; begins with the November 2026 bill for most customers, based on October peak demand; tier resets each billing cycle; myOUC Usage Dashboard; Power Pass daily increments from 16¢ a day in Orlando and 17¢ a day in St. Cloud at tier 1).
- Orlando Utilities Commission — Electric Rates schedule, effective November 1, 2026 (residential DemandLevel charges: tier 1 $5.00/month, tier 2 $10.00/month, tier 3 $15.00/month).
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