The St. Petersburg City Council is scheduled to vote June 4 on whether to award a contract to NewGen Strategies and Solutions LLC for a feasibility study on creating a municipal electric utility to replace Duke Energy Florida.
According to St. Pete Catalyst, the study would assess whether the city should pursue an alternative to Duke Energy Florida ahead of the current franchise agreement’s expiration in August 2026.
The American Public Power Association reported that the city’s solicitation seeks consulting firms to evaluate whether establishing a city-owned electric utility would be in St. Petersburg’s best interests.
Florida TaxWatch reported that in Clearwater, a similar feasibility study estimated a minimum acquisition cost of $572 million for roughly 120,000 Duke Energy customers, while a separate analysis projected costs ranging from $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion. The organization also found that since 2000, only a small fraction of more than 75 municipalization attempts nationwide have been completed.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, investor-owned utilities serve about 80 percent of Florida’s electric customers, while municipal utilities serve roughly 14 percent. The agency also reported that Florida’s average residential electric rate is below the national average, with rate trends largely driven by fuel cost recovery and storm-hardening investments.
The City of St. Petersburg is governed by an eight-member council elected to four-year terms with a two-term limit and operates through committees including Budget, Finance and Taxation and Health, Energy, Resilience and Sustainability. The council sets policy on city finances, utility rates and infrastructure agreements.
