Has Duke ‘sold a lie’ to St. Petersburg?

St. Petersburg’s clean energy goals face gale-force headwinds, primarily due to its reliance on a publicly traded utility conglomerate.

Pinellas County terminated an agreement with Duke Energy in April amid increasing criticism over soaring electricity costs. At least one city council member wants to follow suit and pull the plug on the company’s Clean Energy Connection (CEC) Program. 

Councilmember Richie Floyd reiterated his disdain for Duke at a committee meeting Thursday. Quantifiable data on the convoluted, subscription-based CEC program remains elusive for both city officials and residents. 

“When we’re not getting what we paid for and we were sold a lie, then I’m not interested in continuing,” Floyd said. “I’m pretty comfortable saying that I don’t want to be a part of the program anymore.” 

Floyd is not alone in his dismay over the company’s monopoly on electricity sales. Community support for a grassroots “Dump Duke” campaign has increased, and a social event at Voodoo Brewing Co. begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday. 

St. Petersburg’s 30-year contract with Duke ends in August 2026. Councilmember Brandi Gabbard broached the idea of creating a municipal utility in February 2024. 

The city became Florida’s first to make an official “100% clean energy commitment” in 2019, with a target date of 2035. “I don’t see anything in here that describes how close we are to achieving these goals, or how much progress we’ve made in the last six years,” Floyd said of Thursday’s presentation. 

“I think the discrepancy between our goals here and what we have covered shows the need for a pretty drastic change.” 

St. Petersburg annually spends $10 million on municipal electricity. On-site solar panels accounted for 1% of the 73 million kilowatt hours (kWh) consumed through 1,400 accounts with Duke. 

City officials, using taxpayer dollars, bought roughly 22 million kWh of solar power from Duke in 2024. St. Petersburg also participates in the Solar United Neighbors co-op, which integrates its energy into the company’s grid. 

While it remains unclear how much solar power Duke or its CEC program provides, Rogers said the city is at “anywhere from 31% to 33%” of its 100% goal.  

Gabbard noted that understanding the CEC, which St. Petersburg subscribed to in 2021, requires a “pretty complex mathematical equation.” 

“Residents are asking … what is our return on investment, and we can’t explain it,” Gabbard added. “Duke is asking residents to buy into it … we as the city can’t even explain it.” 

In April, a Duke representative told county commissioners that residential participants pay roughly $14 annually without realizing any financial benefits for about 12 years. Pinellas has spent $3.7 million on CEC fees since 2022 and has generated $3.2 million in credits. 

The county will formally exit the program Oct. 1. Gabbard wants municipal data “broken down as clearly as possible” when the committee discusses the local electrical grid’s future, the franchise agreement with Duke and a potential public utility at a July 31 meeting. 

“I think it’s a very important, larger piece of the Duke conversation,” Gabbard said. 

Clearwater officials allocated $500,000 to weigh the pros and cons of establishing a municipal utility in August 2024. That city’s 30-year contract with Duke ends Dec. 31. 

Floyd subsequently said that Clearwater’s unanimous vote showed studying the electric grid’s future is “reasonable” rather than “radical.” He told the Catalyst that it “puts us in a good position for future negotiations.”

Melissa Seixas, president of St. Petersburg-based Duke Florida, has said that the company’s equipment is “not for sale.” However, proponents believe a municipal utility would significantly lower bills. 

As a publicly traded company, Duke is beholden to shareholders. The company has a $92.22 billion market capitalization; its stock price has increased by over 46% in the past five years. 

In July 2024, Duke finalized a $262 million base rate hike over the next three years. State regulators approved an additional $32 monthly surcharge to help the company recoup hurricane costs in January. 

Floyd previously said that he is “willing to negotiate with Duke if we can lower the impact on residents” and reduce fossil fuel consumption. He reiterated Thursday that the city has “paid for a certain amount of clean energy, and they have not delivered.” 

“That program is not … providing benefits the way they said it would,” Floyd continued. “I can think of significantly better ways we can plot the future of our renewable energy use, our energy grid, with that funding.”