Dear Santa Rosa County Customer,

Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) will complete its service to Santa Rosa County customers at the conclusion of its Franchise Agreement on December 31, 2020. It has been our pleasure to serve you these past six years.

ECUA crews will begin removing your ECUA provided garbage and recycling carts following your last scheduled collection for each service. The ECUA has over 45,000 carts in service in Santa Rosa County, therefore the process will take nearly all of January. Please leave your ECUA Carts at the Curb following your last collection on December 31, 2020. This will assist the ECUA in the removal of the carts and expedite the process.

If your ECUA carts have not been removed by January 29, 2021, please call the ECUA Customer Service Department at 850-476-0480 or email at customer.service@ecua.fl.gov. Once you contact ECUA, a work order will be issued to pick up your ECUA provided carts.

Recent media coverage

You may have seen recent media coverage indicating that the ECUA was interested in continuing to provide service next year if it was able to do so in an open market. This possibility was raised when on November 30th we were made aware that the Santa Rosa County Commission issued an operating permit to a second hauler in the northern end of the county.

Earlier in 2020, the ECUA notified Santa Rosa County it did not wish to renew its Franchise Agreement under the current service terms and rates to provide solid waste collection in Santa Rosa County. It was ECUA’s understanding that Santa Rosa County would be requesting bids for solid waste collection services and would issue a new Franchise Agreement. However, on November 30, 2020, the ECUA learned no Franchise Agreement had been issued and that solid waste collection would be provided on an open market basis by any hauler who holds a valid permit to do so. At its December 15, 2020 Board meeting, the ECUA Board directed staff to hold discussions with the County for up to one week regarding the possibility of the ECUA continuing to provide solid waste collection service in Santa Rosa County in an open market. However, we learned from those discussions that it would be impossible for the ECUA to provide continuous service to its customers while completing the necessary steps to obtain an open market permit from the Santa Rosa County Commission in the short time between November 30th and December 31st. Therefore, as of December 31, 2020, the ECUA will no longer offer solid waste collection in Santa Rosa County.

The ECUA thanks you for your business and appreciates you allowing us to serve as your solid waste collection provider for the past six years.

Best wishes to you and your family for a safe and Happy Holiday season!

Emerald Coast Utilities Authority