The City of St. Petersburg has begun accepting bids from consulting firms to conduct a feasibility study on whether the city should leave Duke Energy and establish a municipal electric utility.
The study will evaluate whether a city-run utility could reduce residents’ electric bills and help St. Petersburg meet its clean energy goals, among other considerations. City officials have committed to powering all homes, businesses, and infrastructure with renewable energy by 2035, though progress toward that target remains unclear.
The request for proposals establishes specific deadlines: consultant proposals are due by 3 p.m. on March 19, a public meeting to select top candidates is scheduled for April 3, and City Council could receive the final cost estimate for the study by June 4. At that point, council members will decide whether to allocate funding for the full study.
Clearwater previously completed a similar study, costing up to $500,000, which concluded that leaving Duke to create a municipal utility could save residents millions on their electric bills.
Recently, energy advocacy groups in St. Petersburg and Clearwater have campaigned against municipal utilities, distributing materials warning of potential property tax increases and rising city debt. While Duke Energy has stated these groups are not controlled by the utility, neither Duke nor the advocacy organizations has disclosed whether Duke provides financial support.
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