Clearwater council votes to withdraw from Duke Energy Clean Energy Connection program

The Clearwater City Council voted unanimously June 5 to withdraw from Duke Energy's Clean Energy Connection program, with council members directing staff to complete unenrollment no later than September.

Council members said the program's financial profile shifted since the city first joined in 2022. A council speaker described the revised projections as moving the program's breakeven point from five years to roughly 15 years and pushing full payback out decades, and said, "To date, taxpayers are in the negative at 383,401 and 7¢." Mayor Bruce Rector said he supported withdrawal, adding, "No. I agree with the concern, and, the county's concern was that that, it wasn't a fair return for the taxpayers. And, so I I support it."

The action followed a staff recommendation to set an unenrollment deadline in September. A member of the public, Brian Beckman, urged the council to publish the staff analysis and to clarify how renewable energy credits were being counted in the program's value. Beckman said, "I was hoping that in between Monday's meeting and today, you'd have information that you'd be sharing with the public."

Councilmembers who spoke during the discussion emphasized that the vote to leave the Duke program does not signal a retreat from the city's clean-energy goals. In council comments they pointed to ongoing local efforts'including city solar projects and other energy-saving contracts'as alternative, more-direct ways to pursue renewable energy and cost savings.

The council made a motion to withdraw from the Duke Energy Clean Energy Connection program with a staff-recommended unenrollment date no later than September. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.

Next steps include staff formalizing the withdrawal timeline and sharing analysis with the public, per requests made during the meeting.