Clearwater is close to renewing its contract with Duke Energy Florida, although the city spent the past couple years looking into operating its own public utility.
Council members had commissioned a feasibility study and appraisal to find out if running its own electricity would be cheaper for its residents, as their bills continue to rise.
At the same time, city staff was negotiating a new 30-year franchise agreement and memorandum agreement with Duke.
It includes an extensive community action plan paid for by the utility.
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"You've all brought different things to the table from downtown revitalization, utilization of Coachman Park, improvements of critical city infrastructure, on top of the hundreds of millions of dollars of investment that Duke Energy has already done and will continue to do,” a Duke representative said to the council members.
In a move that “disappointed” multiple outspoken residents, the council voted unanimously in favor of an ordinance to approve the new contract with the investor-owned utility.
Council members cited concerns about storm reliability, and passing on operating costs and legal fees to residents.
“The immediate cost over the next several years in trying to transition to a municipally owned electric service, all those attorneys' fees – and they were going to be significant – it was going to cost our taxpayers a lot of money,” said Mayor Bruce Rector.
“And in this environment, with the pressure we have trying to make our taxes affordable for our citizens, as well, I just don't feel the timing is right to put that pressure additionally on our budget to go ahead and to try to do that at this time.”
Several residents spoke against this move during a public comment period.
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"I think the next step after getting the appraisal would have been maybe public education and discussion around those results, and why there would be any conflicts, and why we would look into going back to a 30-year agreement,” Jason Scott told the council.
“I'm in support of public power when it comes to reliability and affordability. Even Key West has better reliability than Duke Energy across the state of Florida, which seems ridiculous. And then for the affordability, you can look at the appraisal results. So, I’m really just asking the city council to take a step back. We don't need a rush into this.”
Longtime Clearwater homeowner Lori Green shared her experience with a Duke power line pole falling on her roof last year without word from the company on repairs.
"Who holds this group accountable? We're looking at 30 years. If this is how they're dealing with their customers now – I’m a customer … pay my bill every month – what can we look forward to?" she asked.
The Duke contract with Clearwater isn't official, though, until after a second ordinance reading and council vote.
Last month, the city of St. Petersburg voted to fund a study on alternatives to relying on Duke Energy since the city’s contract ends in August.
