Duke completes efficiency upgrades at St. Pete plant
January 8, 2026 at 5:00 AM EST
Duke Energy Florida recently completed upgrades at the Bartow Power Plant as part of one of the largest coordinated gas turbine improvement projects in the company’s history.
A natural gas plant in St. Petersburg can now produce significantly more power without using additional fuel, resulting in savings for customers and increasing the electric grid’s resiliency.
Duke Energy Florida recently completed upgrades at the Bartow Power Plant as part of one of the largest coordinated gas turbine improvement projects in the company’s history. The facility, which can now produce 88 additional megawatts, opened in 2009 at 1601 Weedon Island Dr. in St. Petersburg.
General manager Marty Drango said the project followed a “deep dive into plant performance” in 2021. The study led to efficiency upgrades at four natural gas facilities throughout Florida that have added 330 megawatts – roughly equivalent to a new, small power plant – to Duke’s statewide electric grid.
“We actually avoided the impact of building a power plant while providing additional power for our customers,” Drango said. “Extra capacity ensures the overall resiliency of the grid, meaning we have enough power to keep the lights on when our customers need it most.”
St. Petersburg-based Duke Florida completed efficiency upgrades at the Osprey Energy Center in Auburndale and the City Combined Cycle Station in Crystal River in the fall. Those projects added 60 and 16 megawatts to the grid, respectively.
Work on the St. Petersburg plant and Hines Energy Complex in the city of Bartow enabled the facilities to produce 255 megawatts of additional energy – a 336% increase over the previous two projects. “Because fuel costs are passed through to customers, every improvement in efficiency at our natural gas plants means real, tangible savings on their bills,” Drango said.
“With these upgrades, we’ve created $340 million in annual fuel savings,” he added. “That translates into about $10 off customers’ monthly bills.”
Large combustion turbines burn natural gas at the plants to produce electricity. Drango said Duke realized that replacing key components with higher-efficiency parts would create more electricity with the same amount of fuel.
He compared the process to working on a car. “If you replace pieces of the engine with newer, more efficient parts, it may be able to go faster or drive longer using less gas,” Drango said.
The projects required “meticulous planning across many different groups.” Drango said Duke continuously explores new, innovative ways to keep “costs in check and help our customers save money.”
He said the upgrades reduced Duke’s need to purchase power, which saved the company an additional $70 million. The publicly-traded utility invested about $161 million in the four projects, but “more than doubled that in fuel savings for our customers in just one year.”
“The return on investment is pretty remarkable,” Drango said. “And we’re not done yet. I think it’s safe to say that ($340 million) total will be considerably higher by the time we finish work at the remaining plants, which we expect to do by early 2027.”
Natural gas is an on-demand energy source that can be “ramped up within minutes, no matter the time of day or weather conditions,” Drango explained. Burning it produces fewer conventional air pollutants than oil or coal, but associated methane leaks significantly reduce environmental benefits.
Drango said natural gas plants provide power “quickly and predictably, which is helpful when energy demand is high.” The upgrades have reduced Duke’s annual carbon footprint by 325,000 tons.
Adding hundreds of megawatts without burning additional fuel is “really important” during the hottest and coldest days of the year, Drango said. “And when we don’t need that power for our own system, we’re actually able to share it with neighboring utilities.”
He noted that the consistency of natural gas also supports the integration of more intermittent renewable energy. For example, solar sites only reach full capacity on sunny days.
Drango said natural gas plants can “kick in” to help balance demand on the grid at night or during inclement weather. “Basically, when our natural gas plants are operating efficiently and effectively – like they are – we can confidently build more solar energy sites.”
Many St. Petersburg residents may not realize a local natural gas plant borders the Weedon Island Preserve. Drango, who oversees roughly 40 people at the facility, believes that’s a “good thing.”
“When we’re invisible, and customers can go on doing whatever it is they need to do, at home or on the job, we consider that a great day at Duke Energy,” he elaborated. “There’s a saying in the utility industry that it takes a lot of hard work to make sure that nothing happens – so it looks like we were successful.”
This content provided in partnership with StPeteCatalyst.com
Duke Energy Florida recently completed upgrades at the Bartow Power Plant as part of one of the largest coordinated gas turbine improvement projects in the company’s history. The facility, which can now produce 88 additional megawatts, opened in 2009 at 1601 Weedon Island Dr. in St. Petersburg.
General manager Marty Drango said the project followed a “deep dive into plant performance” in 2021. The study led to efficiency upgrades at four natural gas facilities throughout Florida that have added 330 megawatts – roughly equivalent to a new, small power plant – to Duke’s statewide electric grid.
“We actually avoided the impact of building a power plant while providing additional power for our customers,” Drango said. “Extra capacity ensures the overall resiliency of the grid, meaning we have enough power to keep the lights on when our customers need it most.”
St. Petersburg-based Duke Florida completed efficiency upgrades at the Osprey Energy Center in Auburndale and the City Combined Cycle Station in Crystal River in the fall. Those projects added 60 and 16 megawatts to the grid, respectively.
Work on the St. Petersburg plant and Hines Energy Complex in the city of Bartow enabled the facilities to produce 255 megawatts of additional energy – a 336% increase over the previous two projects. “Because fuel costs are passed through to customers, every improvement in efficiency at our natural gas plants means real, tangible savings on their bills,” Drango said.
“With these upgrades, we’ve created $340 million in annual fuel savings,” he added. “That translates into about $10 off customers’ monthly bills.”
Large combustion turbines burn natural gas at the plants to produce electricity. Drango said Duke realized that replacing key components with higher-efficiency parts would create more electricity with the same amount of fuel.
He compared the process to working on a car. “If you replace pieces of the engine with newer, more efficient parts, it may be able to go faster or drive longer using less gas,” Drango said.
The projects required “meticulous planning across many different groups.” Drango said Duke continuously explores new, innovative ways to keep “costs in check and help our customers save money.”
He said the upgrades reduced Duke’s need to purchase power, which saved the company an additional $70 million. The publicly-traded utility invested about $161 million in the four projects, but “more than doubled that in fuel savings for our customers in just one year.”
“The return on investment is pretty remarkable,” Drango said. “And we’re not done yet. I think it’s safe to say that ($340 million) total will be considerably higher by the time we finish work at the remaining plants, which we expect to do by early 2027.”
Natural gas is an on-demand energy source that can be “ramped up within minutes, no matter the time of day or weather conditions,” Drango explained. Burning it produces fewer conventional air pollutants than oil or coal, but associated methane leaks significantly reduce environmental benefits.
Drango said natural gas plants provide power “quickly and predictably, which is helpful when energy demand is high.” The upgrades have reduced Duke’s annual carbon footprint by 325,000 tons.
Adding hundreds of megawatts without burning additional fuel is “really important” during the hottest and coldest days of the year, Drango said. “And when we don’t need that power for our own system, we’re actually able to share it with neighboring utilities.”
He noted that the consistency of natural gas also supports the integration of more intermittent renewable energy. For example, solar sites only reach full capacity on sunny days.
Drango said natural gas plants can “kick in” to help balance demand on the grid at night or during inclement weather. “Basically, when our natural gas plants are operating efficiently and effectively – like they are – we can confidently build more solar energy sites.”
Many St. Petersburg residents may not realize a local natural gas plant borders the Weedon Island Preserve. Drango, who oversees roughly 40 people at the facility, believes that’s a “good thing.”
“When we’re invisible, and customers can go on doing whatever it is they need to do, at home or on the job, we consider that a great day at Duke Energy,” he elaborated. “There’s a saying in the utility industry that it takes a lot of hard work to make sure that nothing happens – so it looks like we were successful.”
This content provided in partnership with StPeteCatalyst.com