ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The group looking to drop Duke Energy as St. Petersburg’s energy provider launched a petition on Wednesday to create a ballot measure giving voters the decision on the utility provider’s future in the city.
The organization “Dump Duke” says there are over 30 publicly run utility providers in Florida and claim they provide lower rates and higher reliability.
For the last 30 years, St. Pete has been in what’s called a “franchise agreement” with Duke Energy. It allows only Duke to operate, install and maintain energy infrastructure within the city.
That agreement ended in August.
It would be an expensive switch.
A Duke-commissioned study found that it could cost the city $2.7 billion and $4.1 billion to create its own city-run service. And that’s on top of the nearly $600,000 the city already spent on its own study exploring the idea.
Some residents said that is a switch the city can’t afford.
“We’ve got a bunch of other costs with infrastructure that we need to address,” said Jason Mathis, the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership CEO. “So, I look at all the costs the city has. I look at where our current taxes are, and I just wonder where are we going to get the money to pay for this.”
The group is trying to garner 16,200 signatures to get on the 2028 ballot.