Ocala Electric Utility net metering

Size bands and what each one obliges

The screens that decide it

• Within the 2 MW ceiling Limit 2000 kW.

  Tier 3 stops at 2,000 kW and the system must have a generating capacity of less than 2 megawatts.

• Below the 50 kW three phase requirement Limit 50 kW.

  At 50 kW or greater the system must interconnect at 120/208 V or 277/480 V wye three phase, and OEU will not upgrade service capacity solely to add generation. Confirm the existing service before designing.

• Aggregate customer generation under 2.5 percent of system peak demand 2.5 percent of line section peak load, a figure only the utility holds.

  Ocala is the only Florida utility found publishing a hard aggregate program cap. Total customer owned renewable generation cannot exceed 2.5 percent of aggregate peak demand, and once reached, subsequent applicants are held until capacity frees up. Only OEU knows how much is subscribed, so ask before building a pipeline in Ocala.

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

1. How much of the 2.5 percent aggregate peak demand cap is currently subscribed, and is the queue holding applications? Ocala publishes no tracker and this is the largest single risk to a sales pipeline here.
2. What is the maximum allowable system size for this address? OEU calculates it from historical consumption and issues a letter that must accompany the building permit application.
3. What is the application fee, the study fee and the insurance minimum at this tier? Ocala publishes the structure but no dollar amounts, which appear only in the agreement handed out at the in person meeting.
4. For three phase service, what is the monthly cellular service charge and the special equipment fee for the required modem?

Worth knowing before you quote

Ocala caps the system at 100 percent of calculated annual consumption with no headroom, and the penalty for exceeding it is severe: the net meter is removed and the customer and service location are barred from the net metering program in future. The process also excludes installers. Ocala will no longer accept interconnection agreements submitted by contractors, installers or third party processors, the property owner must submit directly, an in person meeting with OEU comes before contractor engineering is submitted, and an OEU approval letter is required before the building permit can be pulled. Battery rules are fully published: storage paired with generation may not export, backup only storage with no generation needs no interconnection agreement but requires a listed automatic transfer switch, and grid interactive standalone storage is prohibited outright. A placard reading that battery storage is utilized in the facility must be permanently affixed to the meter enclosure.

All Florida interconnection rules