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The city of St. Cloud Public Services staff has been working with Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) and Toho Water Authority (TWA) since October 2012 to ensure the smoothest possible utilities billing system transition for St. Cloud customers.

Customers will see the changes starting in late September.

OUC now provides electric service to more than 30,000 customers in St. Cloud. It also performs all meter reading, billing and customer service for the city of St. Cloud, including potable water, wastewater, reclaimed water, stormwater, solid waste and specialized fees billing. In an effort to reduce costs and maintain affordable electric rates for its customers, OUC is working to upgrade its billing, website and phone systems and add more than 400 third-party payment locations, including 7-Eleven, Walmart, CVS and Publix. OUC also will migrate its billing system and close its customer service walk-in centers Sept. 27 (including the one in St. Cloud City Hall). The upgrade to the OUC billing system included an estimated $800,000 in migration expenses to St. Cloud to transfer all non-electric services. After consideration of potential cost estimates of up to $2.2 million for future project phases and careful research of alternative billing options, a St. Cloud partnership was developed with TWA to save on costs and implement software that will allow city staff to open a customer service center and manage the city services currently provided by OUC (with the exception of electric services).

Currently, approximately 6,000 customers utilize OUCs St. Cloud service center in City Hall monthly, said Public Services Administrator Veronica Miller. We understand St. Cloud residents want to be able to come to City Hall and interact with an employee regarding their city utility services and payments. Therefore, our City Council decided it is in the best interest of our residents to fully staff a full-service walk-in center after the planned closures of OUCs customer service walk-in centers.

Many utilities billing system transition changes will occur in-house for city staff. However, the most noticeable change customers will see is the receipt of two monthly statements instead of one monthly statement starting in October.

One bill will be issued by and paid to OUC for electric use and another bill will be issued by and paid to St. Cloud for all other services; that is water, wastewater, reclaim, stormwater, solid waste, and EMS, said Miller. Its important to our City Council and to our staff that our customers know that we are working diligently to ensure the smoothest transition possible while maintaining the highest level of customer service St. Cloud residents expect and deserve. These efforts will continue through the transition phase and beyond.

Following the closure of OUCs St. Cloud service center in City Hall Sept. 27, the area will be closed for a renovation period and a new city walk-in center will open Oct. 14 with city staff serving customers. Phone and Internet support will continue to be available during the renovation period of Sept. 27 through Oct. 14. OUC will continue to provide its St. Cloud payment website, phone payment services, and Amscot payment options until Nov. 22 for City-issued bills. After Nov. 22, residents will be able to make their OUC electric payments online at http://www.OUC.com, over the phone at 407-957-7373, or at one of the more than 400 new authorized third-party payment centers. The city of St. Cloud will convert to its new billing software Nov. 25. The new billing software will produce a new bill appearance and will enable a new website for eBills, online payment and customer service.

An updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document is posted on the St. Cloud News section at http://www.stcloud.org. As new information becomes available, the FAQs will be updated. An OUC presentation to St. Cloud City Council about the utilities billing system transition may also be viewed at http://www.stcloud.org > Media Center > St. Cloud City Council Meeting 5-23-2013, Part1 and St. Cloud City Council Meeting 5-23-2013, Part2.

Beginning Sept. 30, for city of St. Cloud-initiated bills (water, sewer, solid waste services, etc.), contact St. Cloud Utilities Customer Service at 407-957-7344, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For OUC-initiated electric bills, continue to call 407-957-7373.

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St. Cloud working toward utilities bill system transition