{"id":4199,"date":"2026-06-23T10:04:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T10:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199"},"modified":"2026-06-23T10:04:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T10:04:22","slug":"clearwater-considers-replacing-duke-energy-with-city-owned-electric-utility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199","title":{"rendered":"Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEARWATER, Fla.<\/strong> – <\/span>A debate over who should provide electricity in Clearwater is taking shape as city leaders explore the possibility of replacing Duke Energy.<\/p>

Read more Elevate Florida program: Lawmakers, homeowners demand action on home elevation grants<\/a><\/p>

Clearwater electric grid debate<\/h2>

By the numbers:<\/p>

<\/div>

The 30-year franchise agreement between Clearwater and Duke Energy expired in December 2025. A city-commissioned appraisal recently valued Duke Energy’s local power assets at approximately $265 million.<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n <\/div>

Inside his Clearwater warehouse, Mike Mastruserio, founder of Proforma, a printing company, says he\u2019s satisfied with Duke Energy.<\/p>

City-owned electric proposal<\/h2>

What they’re saying:<\/p>

“They do a great job and whenever there’s an outage, they tell me about it,” Mastruserio said. “They tell me how long it’s going to be out. That’s good communication.”<\/p>

Mastruserio is skeptical of the city’s effort to take over electric service.<\/p>

“I don’t think Clearwater should be meddling with something they don’t do regularly,” Mastruserio said.<\/p>

Mastruserio also questions whether the city has the staffing needed to operate its own electric utility.<\/p>

“They don’t have the manpower. Their staffing levels are down now,” Mastruserio said. “For them to bring on a whole new electrical department in order to do that, that’s going to be a big task\u2026 and I don’t think they’re up for it.”<\/p>

Lower-cost resident options<\/h2>

The other side:<\/p>

Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector says city leaders are exploring ways to lower costs for residents.<\/p>

“We’re just trying to do the best we can for our customers in Clearwater,” Rector said. “We want the best value for them, the lowest cost possible.”<\/p>

Read more Olivia Rodrigo launches Daisy Chain Fields all-women music festival<\/a><\/p>

Duke Energy disputes the city’s appraisal and says a government takeover would be far more expensive than the city’s estimates.<\/p>

In a statement, Duke Energy spokeswoman Ana Gibbs said a report prepared by Concentric concluded that taking over Clearwater’s electric grid would cost about $1 billion.<\/p>

“Separating Clearwater from the electric grid is complex, risky and would take years,” Gibbs said.<\/p>

Duke Energy also added that a renewed franchise agreement would best serve Clearwater and its residents.<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n <\/div>

Rector disagreed, pointing to Clearwater’s city-owned gas utility, which has operated for more than 100 years.<\/p>

“They make it sound like we’re incapable of operating an energy utility,” Rector said. “We’ve shown over 100 years we are capable of doing that.”<\/p>

Upcoming city council meeting<\/h2>

What’s next:<\/p>

Clearwater City Council is expected to discuss the appraisal and possible next steps during its meeting on July 16.<\/p>

Read more Eustis Hit-and-Run: 20-year-old motorcyclist left with severed muscle speaks out after crash<\/a><\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A debate over who should provide electricity in Clearwater is taking shape as city leaders explore the possibility of replacing Duke Energy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[244,342],"tags":[245,343],"class_list":["post-4199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clearwater","category-duke-energy","tag-clearwater","tag-duke-energy"],"yoast_head":"\nClearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility - Tampa moving journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility - Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A debate over who should provide electricity in Clearwater is taking shape as city leaders explore the possibility of replacing Duke Energy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T10:04:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7a29ea1777841f4b4e0b5008f1b9cc66.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"932\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"524\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=4199#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=4199\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"headline\":\"Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T10:04:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=4199\"},\"wordCount\":452,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=4199#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bb05a3a7d22934e0b291c2b8f59bacd7.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Clearwater\",\"Duke Energy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Clearwater\",\"Duke Energy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=4199#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=4199\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=4199\",\"name\":\"Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility - Tampa moving journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=4199#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=4199#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bb05a3a7d22934e0b291c2b8f59bacd7.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T10:04:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=4199#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=4199\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=4199#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bb05a3a7d22934e0b291c2b8f59bacd7.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bb05a3a7d22934e0b291c2b8f59bacd7.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=4199#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tampa moving journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility - Tampa moving journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility - Tampa moving journal","og_description":"A debate over who should provide electricity in Clearwater is taking shape as city leaders explore the possibility of replacing Duke Energy.","og_url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199","og_site_name":"Tampa moving journal","article_published_time":"2026-06-23T10:04:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":932,"height":524,"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7a29ea1777841f4b4e0b5008f1b9cc66.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"headline":"Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility","datePublished":"2026-06-23T10:04:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199"},"wordCount":452,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bb05a3a7d22934e0b291c2b8f59bacd7.webp","keywords":["Clearwater","Duke Energy"],"articleSection":["Clearwater","Duke Energy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199","name":"Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility - Tampa moving journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bb05a3a7d22934e0b291c2b8f59bacd7.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-23T10:04:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bb05a3a7d22934e0b291c2b8f59bacd7.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bb05a3a7d22934e0b291c2b8f59bacd7.webp","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=4199#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/","name":"Tampa moving journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}