PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The City of Clearwater is keeping its contract with Duke Energy and is no longer looking at running its own power.
For months, city officials had been exploring running its own utility to save residents money.
But on Thursday, the city council unanimously approved a 30-year extension to its franchise agreement with Duke.
Last year, the city approved $500,000 for a study to explore how feasible it would be to buy some of Duke’s equipment and provide its own utility services.
Council members ultimately decided against that, citing high costs.
St. Pete is waiting on the results of a similar study, as its contract with Duke expired last week.
As far as its deal with Clearwater, Duke Energy Florida President Melissa Seixas said, “We have such a long history together, so that continuity around reliability, safety, investments in economic development, investments in nonprofit organizations — all of those things kind of remain and have a refreshed, forward view for the next term of the franchise agreement.”