Pinellas to withdraw from Duke clean energy program

As Duke Energy continues to face pushback from local leaders and residents about rising utility costs, Pinellas County made a move this week that would loosen its ties to the energy company.

Pinellas County commissioners passed a resolution Tuesday that will end the county’s participation in Duke’s Clean Energy Connection program, through which subscribers help pay for solar power plants across the state in return for future savings on monthly bills.

Commissioner Vince Nowicki added the resolution to the county’s agenda and noted during the meeting that Duke’s electricity rates continue to climb, but the percent returned for monthly credits doesn’t.

“This isn’t about putting clean energy to bed,” he said Tuesday. “This is about removing from a program, looking at other options.”

Duke representatives were at the commission meeting and answered a slew of questions from board members regarding the cost of staying in this program. The utility’s representatives maintained that the long-term benefits are worthwhile.

Starting no later than Oct. 1, Pinellas County will end its participation in the program. The county is spending millions of dollars a year on the program, which requires a monthly fee of $8.35 per kilowatt of energy used.

When the county initially voted to participate in the program, Duke Energy estimated the county would save $15.18 million over 33 years and break even on its payments within five to seven years. Now, estimates show it wouldn’t break even until its 12th year and wouldn’t start seeing a return until the 20th year.

Subscribers receive a credit to their bill based on how much energy they generate multiplied by a set rate, which increases annually after the first three years.

The county joined the program in 2022. In its second year in the program, it spent $1.3 million in subscription fees and generated $1.0 million in credits. This past year, it paid $3.7 million and generated $3.2 million in credits.

Commissioners said the amount of money the county is paying is too high for such little return.

“I just see a cash flow that’s going out,” Commissioner Chris Scherer said, citing how much money the county would be paying over the next several years. “We might want to call it quits, and this is a great opportunity to do so.”

Pinellas isn’t the first local government to express concern with this program. Last year, St. Petersburg City Council member Richie Floyd said “it sounded like a corporate black box that we don’t really have any control over,” and it has faced legal challenges at the state level.

Nowicki’s resolution also placed a restriction on the purchase of electric vehicles for the county’s fleet unless a financial analysis is presented to the board that demonstrates the purchase’s fiscal benefits.

Also under the resolution, commissioners will work to realign the county’s clean energy goals and redirect funding that previously went toward the program.

Although Nowicki said the resolution has been on the county’s agenda for two weeks and was discussed in a previous workshop, commissioners said they wanted a more in-depth discussion about clean energy goals and where to redirect the money that was to go toward the Duke program.

René Flowers was the sole “no” vote Tuesday. She shared concerns about changing direction at the federal level on clean and solar energy and said she isn’t sure “that this will stop here.”

“Before I could support anything that would take a step back, I would like for us to have, not just a soft conversation, but a true conversation, about the directions that we’re going,” she said.

Commissioner Dave Eggers voted to approve the resolution, but said he was also concerned about following the “pendulum swings” happening at the federal and state levels.

He said he did not want to signal that the county is closed off to clean energy or to having conversations about it. Commissioners are planning to meet again in the coming months to continue the discussion about alternative energy sources.