Solar Not Connected in Orlando? How PTO Works With OUC, Duke Energy, and KUA

There are panels on your roof, but your electric bill never changed and the monitoring app never lit up. If your solar is not connected in Orlando, the missing step is almost always Permission to Operate — PTO for short. Until your utility issues it, your system is not allowed to produce power.

Solar not connected in Orlando? PTO is the missing step

PTO is your utility's written approval to turn the system on. It only comes after the big steps are done: the interconnection application, the installation itself, a passed inspection from your local building department, and the utility's own review. Skip any one of those, and the system sits dark — legally off.

Central Florida makes this more confusing than most places, because three different utilities serve the area. OUC covers Orlando. Duke Energy covers Sanford, Apopka, Clermont, and Winter Park. KUA covers Kissimmee. Each one runs its own interconnection process, so "who do I even call?" is a fair question.

OUC, Duke Energy, and KUA: three utilities, three processes

The ladder to PTO looks similar everywhere, but the paperwork and the people behind it are different.

• OUC (Orlando Utilities Commission). Orlando's municipal utility sets its own interconnection rules. OUC solar interconnection review happens after your City of Orlando or Orange County permit passes final inspection. OUC then handles the metering change and gives its written approval.
• Duke Energy (Sanford, Apopka, Clermont, Winter Park). Duke is an investor-owned utility, so it follows Florida's statewide net-metering rule. Duke Energy solar PTO generally arrives as a letter or email after the final inspection clears and Duke finishes its meter work.
• KUA (Kissimmee Utility Authority). Kissimmee's municipal utility also sets its own rules. Your installer files the interconnection paperwork with KUA, and KUA signs off after the local building inspection is done.

Here's the catch: the installer usually files all of this for you. If the installer quit, cut corners, or went out of business, nobody may have ever finished your file — and no one calls to tell you.

How to check your PTO status with each utility

• Search your email for "Permission to Operate," "PTO," "interconnection," or "net metering." The approval usually comes in writing.
• Call your utility and ask for the solar or interconnection team. Ask two questions: Is there an approved interconnection agreement for my address? Has PTO been issued, and on what date?
• Check your bill. If you have never seen a solar or net-metering credit from OUC, Duke, or KUA, your system has likely never fed the grid.
• Check your permit. Look up your address with the City of Orlando, Orange County, Seminole County, or Osceola County building department. An open or expired solar permit means the job was never closed out.
• Look at your meter. Utilities typically swap or reprogram the meter for solar. If that visit never happened, you probably do not have PTO.

Write down every answer, with names and dates. If your solar is not connected in Orlando and someone is billing you anyway, that phone log becomes evidence.

Why the loan bills even though the power never came on

Most solar loans start billing once the panels are installed — not once the utility grants PTO. The lender pays the installer at "install complete," and your payments begin. That is how homeowners end up paying every month for a system that has never produced a single kilowatt-hour.

PACE financing is even trickier. In Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties, a PACE loan shows up as a non-ad valorem line on your county property-tax bill, and it stays with the house until it is resolved. Our PACE guide below explains how that works.

A system that never got PTO but bills you every month is one of the strongest fact patterns we document. You are paying full price for an unfinished project — and the paper trail usually proves it.

What an unfinished interconnection can mean legally

We are not a law firm, and this is not legal advice. But an unfinished interconnection can matter in several ways, and a Florida consumer attorney can tell you which of these apply to you:

• Non-performance. You were sold a working solar system. A system with no PTO was arguably never delivered.
• The FTC Holder Rule. If the installer arranged your loan, this federal rule can let you raise the installer's failures against the lender.
• FDUTPA. Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act covers deceptive door-to-door solar sales.
• The 3-day rule. Florida's home-solicitation law gives you a 3-business-day right to cancel, and violations of it matter.
• PACE cases. Florida law (s.163.086) lets a court void a PACE agreement for forgery, fraud, or 3-day-cancellation violations.

Stalled interconnections are common here because so many installers collapsed mid-project. Titan Solar went into Chapter 7 in June 2024. ADT shut down its solar division in 2024. SunPower filed Chapter 11 in 2024, and its new owner did not take on the older warranties. Freedom Forever — once the #2 installer in the country — filed Chapter 11 in April 2026. If your installer is on that list, your file may simply have been abandoned.

• Florida Solar Company Bankruptcy Tracker — free, verified list →
• Your Solar Installer Went Bankrupt — What Florida Homeowners Can Do →
• Solar Installed but Never Turned On (No PTO)? The Florida Guide →

How we document a no-PTO system in person

Documentation wins these cases, and it is Phase 1 of our program. Our rep is based in the Orlando area and does in-person documentation visits across Central Florida — from College Park and Conway out to Kissimmee, Sanford, and Clermont. The visit is $497, and it is credited back if you move forward with us.

The rep photographs the panels, the meter, and the disconnect, pulls the permit history, and records what your utility says about your interconnection status. If the system was never turned on, the report says so plainly — dates, names, and photos. And when removal or roof repair is the right move, that work is done by a qualified, licensed local roofing contractor, a licensed Florida contractor.

• Failed Solar in Florida — the full guide →
• Solar help in Orlando →
• Solar help in Kissimmee →
• Solar help in Sanford →

This article is general information, not legal advice. Every case is different — talk to a licensed Florida attorney about yours.