St. Petersburg leaders raise idea to break off from Duke for utilities
Two members of the St. Petersburg City Council on Thursday raised the idea of breaking off from Duke Energy to form a municipal utility, a potential major shift that would alter who is in charge of the city’s electricity.
During a morning meeting of the health, energy, resilience and sustainability committee, which includes four of the eight city council members, council member Brandi Gabbard floated the idea first. She pointed to the fact that the city’s legal agreement with Duke Energy is up for renewal in 2026, saying she wanted to take advantage of the “rare opportunity.” It’s been 30 years since the last time the city renewed that contract.
“I’ve been having some conversations behind the scenes with some concerned residents and stakeholders that do not want us to just rubber-stamp a new agreement. They want council involved in this conversation, they want us to start now and they honestly want us to look at alternatives to actually running our own municipal (utility),” she said. “I’m not saying today that I’m in favor of that. What I’m saying is I believe we need to have a conversation about it.”
Fellow council member Richie Floyd said he has similar interest in learning more about what that would entail. If St. Petersburg formed its own utility, it would join a list of other cities including Lakeland, Orlando, Jacksonville and Tallahassee that have greater control over how their communities are powered.
Floyd pointed to the city’s goal to have 100% of St. Petersburg’s energy come from renewable sources by 2035, saying he wants to see more data showing whether Duke Energy is moving aggressively enough toward that benchmark. He said the city could also choose to stay with Duke but renegotiate some parts of its contract.
“My primary concern is not with Duke or anything, my primary concern is ... making sure we’re actually meeting our emissions reduction and renewable goals. Because look at how vulnerable we are — and we’re contributing to climate change? That’s unacceptable,” Floyd said after the meeting. “No. 2, making sure that we’re providing the best service (that’s) affordable to our residents. Prices have gone up so much, I think affordability is going to have to be a key aspect of this.”
Floyd said council members and staff will continue to gather more details about all the city’s options and the discussion will continue in future meetings. The committee is expected to meet again in March and July.
Audrey Stasko, a spokesperson for Duke Energy, said in a statement the company’s history in Florida is “nearly as old as the city of St. Petersburg itself.”
Stasko pointed to a community solar program and converting street lights to LED bulbs as examples of Duke supporting the city’s ambitions.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the city to help meet its clean energy goals,” she said.
