ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014\u00a0On Friday, the City of St. Petersburg will be evaluating bids for a feasibility study to understand how much it would cost to leave Duke Energy and create its own municipal electric utility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
St. Pete isn’t\u00a0the only city\u00a0looking into this. Clearwater recently finished\u00a0its\u00a0study, which showed immediate savings to customers.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s a years-long process that, by any estimate, would cost hundreds of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n
According to the Florida Municipal Electrical Association<\/a>, Duke Energy, which provides power to 1.7 million Floridians, has among the highest rates in the state.<\/p>\n It\u2019s why the City of St. Petersburg is considering leaving the massive investor-owned utility.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have an opportunity, for the first time in 30 years, to see is this really the best we can be doing for our residents. Are these the cheapest energy rates we can provide for our residents?\u201d said Richie Floyd, vice chair of St. Pete\u2019s City Council.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n But that agreement ends in August 2026. The city can either re-sign with Duke, or get into the power game themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cAs of right now, the City of St. Pete has no other option than to explore this, because we wouldn’t be doing right by our citizens if we blindly signed another contract with a company that’s charging us the highest rates in the state,\u201d Floyd said.<\/p>\n Clearwater has been working for a year and a half to explore\u00a0its\u00a0energy options. A feasibility study, paid for by the city,<\/a> showed, \u201cThe Clearwater [municipal electric utility] could provide service to its customers at a lower annual average cost than Duke.\u201d<\/p>\n But to get there, the study\u00a0indicated\u00a0the city would have to spend at least $572 million to buy all of Duke\u2019s infrastructure.<\/p>\n Duke, meanwhile, paid for\u00a0its\u00a0own study, which estimates the cost much higher at more than a billion dollars.<\/p>\n