PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The City of Clearwater is taking a look at a potential plan to drop Duke Energy and run its own energy utility.
City council previously unanimously approved a feasibility study to see how the change could impact the community.
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"If it ain't broke, don't fix it…I'm like, is there a problem with Duke Energy?" said Glen Best, who lives in Clearwater.
Homeowners in Clearwater are divided when it comes to energy.
The City is reviewing a feasibility study to see how a switch from Duke Energy to city-run electricity could impact customers.
Glen Best said he's been a customer with Duke Energy for years, and while his energy bills have gone up, he said a switch to city-run utilities is a bad idea.
"It's not an overnight thing, it's going to cost a fortune and all your profits are deferred and delayed," said Best.
The study cost about $504,000 and revealed that if Clearwater switched to city-run power services, customers could save 7% in the first five years and 18% annually over the next 25 years.
According to another study, done by Concentric Energy Advisors, it estimates that it would cost Clearwater over $1.1 billion to take over Duke Energy's infrastructure.
Currently, we don't know what upfront costs the city and customers can expect if the switch is made.
Best said the money should be use in other ways.
"There's a lot of things that could be improved and done like sewage and roads, or you name it. And a feasibility study, whether it would be feasible for us to take over and then we will spend, you say you're going to spend money… immediately it's like 'no, why?' There's no immediate benefit for the residents here," said Best.
On the other hand, Meghan Panek said she would like to see the city take over.
"It could help with the bills, it could help control the bills. Maybe its only a few dollars the first year but maybe in ten years, it's significant, maybe its going to be $200 in ten years," said Panek.
Clearwater's 30-year franchise agreement with Duke Energy is set to expire this December and Panek hopes a switch is made soon.
"We already run our own water and trash with no hiccups….We have a hurricane, okay we have trash out for one day, but they are there the next day doing double time, picking up the pace, getting all the trash…I don't know why we can't do the same thing for electric," said Panek.
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