Know
Council OKs municipal electric utility feasibility study
“I believe the City owes its residents an investigation into a public option.”
At its Thursday meeting, the St. Petersburg City Council approved funding a municipal electric utility feasibility study in a tight vote. This effort will allow the City to explore alternatives to Duke Energy.
NewGen Strategies and Solutions LLC will oversee the initiative. Previously, the company completed a study for the City of Clearwater. According to a City of St. Petersburg document, $590,000 will be allocated.
St. Petersburg’s 30-year franchise agreement with Duke Energy is set to expire in August. Currently, the City is in the process of potentially negotiating a new contract.
In July 2025, a Council committee voted in favor of a resolution to request bids from consultancy firms for a study. City Council member Brandi Gabbard presented the idea of forming a municipal electric utility at a Health, Energy, Resilience and Sustainability Committee meeting in 2024.
Gabbard argued at the Thursday Council meeting that “we should have the information that we need to negotiate from a place of power and a place of knowledge.”
Creating a City-run utility has received community support. The grassroots “Dump Duke” campaign has been a key proponent. Residents have expressed concern over increased bills. A town hall was held May 27 ahead of the Thursday vote. Council member Richie Floyd attended and spoke at the event.
“I was 4 years old when this got signed last time,” Floyd said at the Council meeting. “I would like to see us do everything we can to look at our options and this is our opportunity right now.”
Floyd and Gabbard voted to fund the study. Council members Deborah Figgs-Sanders and Lisset Hanewicz also gave their support. However, Council members Copley Gerdes, Gina Driscoll and Mike Harting voted against the effort.
While Council member Corey Givens Jr. was in attendance, he left before the vote was taken. Givens also left the July 2025 meeting, when a Council committee approved a resolution to request bids for the study, without voting.
Gerdes expressed concern about the cost of creating a municipal utility and referenced the Winter Park community in Florida, which has overseen its own power since 2005.
“Winter Park has 30,000 people inside of six square miles,” he said. “We have 270,000 across 111 square miles. It’s light years different.”
Harting explained that it would require a large amount of capital to start a municipal utility. The City would have to pay a significant sum of money to acquire Duke Energy’s electrical assets.
Duke “doesn’t want to sell,” he said. As a result, the St. Petersburg government would need to pursue legal measures to gain control of the equipment. Additionally, the City will have to create a “company that runs 24/7” and hire a team to operate the organization.
In lengthy open forum and public comment sections, many residents argued for the study.
“Duke Energy is a monopoly,” said resident Jorge Vazquez, “and, over the course of its 30-year contract, has made our electricity more expensive. There is no competition and they know that.”
He explained that “this exploitation can end at the City’s hands.” Vazquez added that “we built this community and we deserve better.”
“As a citizen and voter, I struggle to understand how Duke’s overriding commitment to increasing shareholder value and having a monopoly can ever serve the interest of St. Pete consumers,” Pamela O’Connor said. “In the case of the City’s contract with Duke Energy, I believe the City owes its residents an investigation into a public option.”
Dominic Medina added that a public utility could make electricity more affordable for St. Petersburg residents over time. He explained that “moving in the direction of municipal power is a moral and just pursuit.”
“Things most worth doing are hard,” Medina said. “Changing the system effectively will take years of effort.”
Resident Jerrilyn Evans spoke against the study. She believes that the St. Petersburg government has “failed to properly maintain, update and secure” the City’s water department. Evans added that the municipality may not “have the same infrastructure in place for repairs” if another major storm occurs.
St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership CEO Jason Mathis argued that the City could better spend the money on other initiatives, such as affordable housing efforts or providing free lunches to children in need during the summer.
“Six hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money,” he said. “It’s worth asking how would this would be materially different from the Clearwater study that was just completed? Can’t we extrapolate data from that? Do we need to pay full price for our own St. Pete version?”
Duke Energy Florida storm director Todd Fountain believes that the company can effectively respond to damage caused by severe weather events.
“During the 2024 hurricane season, we mobilized over 26,000 resources in response to Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton,” he said. “Similar to the ability to mobilize resources, we also have the ability to acquire inventory, through multiple states and suppliers across the country. This includes transformers, wire, poles and all the material that’s in high demand during a crisis.”
Duke Energy commissioned a study after the City of Clearwater began to explore the feasibility of a municipal electric utility. According to the findings, it would cost the City over $1 billion to gain control of the organization’s assets and provide power for approximately 120,000 residents and businesses. St. Petersburg has about twice the amount of clients.
The company will continue to serve St. Petersburg until a contract is renewed, or an alternative is selected.
John Donovan
June 6, 2026at9:09 pm
Foolish is as foolish does. Current city administration can’t keep city roads paved properly. But an electric company, infinitely more complicated than sewer and water and at a cost that is beyond the city’s capability, they can do that? This is so ridiculously stupid of an expenditure of funds, that I’m a guaranteed YES on property tax relief amendment expected on Novembers’ ballot. What is the recall procedure for City Council members. I’ll sign that too.
Linwood Gilbert
June 6, 2026at7:53 pm
Before the Great Depression, every city had their own generating company. They all went broke. The state told the few still open, if buy up the others and we will give you a monopoly, but we set your rates. It still works that way. Rates are set so the utilities across America can provide a fair, dependable return, and many have utility stock in their retirement plans. Most cities with their own utility company still buy power from Duke or whoever the main supplier is. Very few own a power plant, which is a few hundred million dollars with a staff of hundreds. There are two generating plants in St. Pete. One is in Bayboro Harbor, a “peaking” generator that kicks in at 5:00 in the afternoon when people come home and turn on the stove. They used to be Pratt and Whitney jet turbines, because the big steam plants take days to get going, but turbines are very expensive to run. There is another, the Bartow plant off Gandy Blvd. I think they are also peakers, but, even if it is bigger, it runs on fuel oil, very expensive. So the best the city could do would be to purchase the poles and lines and still purchase electricity from Duke. So we might, maybe, save a little money by maintaining the distribution system less expensively than Duke can. But you can see the city council meeting in 3 or 4 years when costs are way higher than expected so we cut back on maintenance. And what if we get a hurricane? There is no insurance. They’ll just add the cost of repairs to our bills, as Duke does, but Duke spreads it over millions of customers. If you think the Dome was a fiasco, wait till you see St. Pete Electric. It doesn’t even look good on paper, but we can’t even have our staff do some research. We had rather pay $600,000 for someone from out of town to tell us all this? Did I read that right? I had rather have a new sewage treatment plant.
Danny White
June 6, 2026at3:02 pm
I do not believe the study itself is problematic. There appears to be sufficient public interest to warrant exploring the option. Approving a study is not the same as making a commitment; it is simply a step toward gathering information.
What would be disappointing is if the results are not thoroughly vetted for practicality, feasibility, costs, risks, and long-term impacts. The study should inform the decision—not predetermine it. Whatever path is ultimately chosen, it should be based on a careful evaluation of the facts and what is in the best interest of St. Petersburg residents and businesses.
Gina Marie
June 6, 2026at4:49 pm
Danny, very sweet of you… I appreciate your faith in the system. As with statistics, any outcome can be created, depending on how we want the results to be. And it’s really hard to understand this very complex system and guess about the future especially with the future demands of AI. So no, unfortunately, it will not be unbiased, and as mentioned in another comment, which was BRILLIANT, the cost of everything has increased, (cost to the electric company as well) so the city will most likely pay more for these items than Duke will, including fuel, Product, Construction, employees, insurance, even City of St Pete’s own permitting system would be a barrier and expense to itself lol. (LET THAT SINK IN). Or will we put this in front of the private projects that have been delayed since the flood and hurricanes due to a permitting backlog?
I think it’s important to mention another item where the Mayor decided to save the city money… with all due respect, the Mayor decided to decrease the Insurance coverage, to save money of the Rays Stadium, a few months before the hurricane. Causing us/city of St Pete OVER 50 MILLION DOLLARS repairing the roof damage to the stadium due to inadequate coverage. This was done to save a few bucks! (LET THAT SINK IN AS WELL ) Again, this is the city who wants to oversee/create the electrical infrastructure to save money…. lol!
Hugh Hazeltine
June 6, 2026at9:47 am
Let’s put this in context. The water and sewer infrastructure of St. Petersburg is now 100 years old. It will take a huge effort to maintain and update this city wide system.
Duke Energy is an investor owned utility. It’s rates are set by the Florida Public Service commission. The FPSC assigns specific geographic territories to utilities, meaning residents cannot choose their provider. In exchange for this monopoly, Duke Energy is legally obligated to provide safe, 24/7 reliable power to everyone within its footprint.
In the generation of electricity, one third of the cost is fuel. Which St. Petersburg might pay more for than Duke because we would be a smaller customer. One third is for the infrastructure that generates and carries the electricity to your home or business. The last third is for the salaries of the people that operate the utility.
The generation and distribution of electricity is an extremely complex process. First, it is generated at very high voltages to make it easier to transmit over distance. Then the voltage must be stepped down to a safe and usable level at your home. Meanwhile, the frequency (the direction of AC electricity changes direction 60 times a second) must be regulated to the micro second so that our grid can be integrated into the surrounding grids. This allow us to share electric generation or borrow as needed. The entire U.S. east of the rockies (except Texas) is essentially one grid.
It is important that persons running for Mayor or City council be very well informed on many subjects before they seek office. This way citizens will not have to fund studies on subject matter that already exists on the WWW and in books such as “The Grid” by Gretchen Bakke.
S. Rose Smith-Hayes
June 6, 2026at9:37 am
City Council and Mayor Welch, Please speak to the Management of the City of Lakeland. They provide Electricity and water to residents. At least 50% or more are on a payment plan because their bills are too high. Speak to people that experience this before you waste our money on studies, Please!!!!!!
Gina Marie
June 6, 2026at4:10 am
Why we shouldn’t do this …. We will destroy the opportunities for years to come for the city of St Pete. . As AI and other emerging technologies drive exponential growth in electricity demand, now is not the time for our city to take on the enormous risk of creating and operating its own electric utility. Power generation and grid management require specialized expertise, massive capital investment, and long-term planning. Taking on that responsibility could put taxpayers at risk and leave our city behind when we should be preparing for the future. This could impact future companies, future jobs from relocating here and can even lead to limited usage by areas and times. That’s how serious this situation is. Devastating to the future of St. Petersburg for generations to come. And would put us at a complete disadvantage. Not only would it wind up costing the city more and its residents more, but it would be a complete disaster on how it’s run, drain our resources, and ultimately lead to controlled usage since the demand will be too much for the System to handle. Kudos to those City council who voted against this.
Gina Marie
June 6, 2026at4:05 am
Absolutely not, not even sure how this ridiculous idea got wings. This will be as epic of a failure as , (actually more because it will be impossible to undo) as closing down the Wastewater Treatment Plant in 2015 for a tilapia farm which has caused devastating effects on homeowners throughout st Pete with flooding and RAW SEWAGE overflow!!! This is the same city we want to run our electric system because it did so well with our water and waste system ! It will be cheaper, no it won’t. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to know this. There will be a shortage and it will have to be monitored usage and prices will increase due to the massive increasing demand with AI and technology.. Please let me understand how the mayor and Mayor candidates are using technology and AI upgrades as part of their mayoral campaign platform yet think this is a good idea? … and remember with the Homestead taxes potentially being taken off the table, the city will have to be extremely conservative with our resources. Gone are the days of these half million RFP’s at a whim.
Robin Young
June 5, 2026at7:37 pm
ridiculous waste of money when there are so many other priorities. the city will never be able to do this at scale and with the right talent. when emergencies occur, where will the additional resources come from to help? we have sea walls crumbling and ongoing water drainage issues, why divert money here? and by the way, how can a study cost that much??
Ryan Todd
June 5, 2026at4:42 pm
Mayor Welch and City Council can do one thing right: waste our money.
Take the public utility study RFP to Havana!
Mike Kosempa
June 5, 2026at3:31 pm
Infants.