Pinellas County staff outlines energy savings, says subscriptions and audits drive decisions

Robert Mills, director of the Office of Resiliency and Asset Management, briefed the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners on Feb. 20 on the county’s energy-conservation work and how staff evaluates new projects on cost-effectiveness and return on investment.

Mills told the panel that the county treats energy “as an asset” and relies on audits and data to decide when to repair or replace equipment. He said the county’s annual energy bill is about $20 million and described recent projects that lowered consumption and operating costs while staff continued to weigh up-front investment against long-term savings.

County staff highlighted several completed and ongoing efforts: a conversion of metered streetlights to LED that cut roughly 2,000,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually and produced about $128,000 in annual savings; an LED conversion at a detention facility said to save roughly 540,000 kWh per year; HVAC and chiller replacements that qualified for modest utility rebates; and participation in Duke Energy’s Clean Energy Connection subscription program. Mills said the subscription program required a roughly $3 million annual commitment and is projected to break even around year 10, with modelled credits of about $15 million over the life of the program (to 2054) if generation performs as expected.

Mills described the county’s approach to audits and investment: level-1 audits focus on low‑cost, high‑impact fixes (lighting, basic HVAC controls) while level-2 audits dive deeper into equipment performance. “We look at industry standards and we try as industry evolves, we work very diligently on trying to bring those technologies to Pinellas County,” Mills said. He added the county evaluates utility rebate opportunities and federal grant programs (he cited a Department of Energy program that could provide up to about $384,000) before committing funds.

On vehicle electrification, Mills said fleet evaluation is ongoing. He reported the county has electric utility vehicles that have performed well but that passenger EVs have not yet shown a broadly cost-effective fit for the county’s operations. He said the county is currently evaluating six F-150-style vehicles to determine operational fit and noted staff will return with additional recommendations if conditions change.

Commissioners asked for clarifications and follow‑up. Commissioner Renee asked whether solar credits are transferable; Mills said he did not have a percentage on transferability and would check. Commissioner Nick asked about charging infrastructure costs; Mills said a Duke Energy “Plug to Play” pilot supplied chargers and meters that became Pinellas County property as of Jan. 1, 2024. Mills said the county has 31 charging stations total, about 21 publicly facing, and staff are evaluating fee options for public use. Commissioners also asked about the role of tariff changes and the Florida Public Service Commission in setting electricity rates; Mills and staff reminded the board that some elements of price are set outside county control.

Multiple commissioners urged staff to keep returning with data and to consider newer evaluation tools. One commissioner suggested exploring artificial intelligence for operational savings; Mills said no AI tools were in routine use now but staff would consider opportunities. Another asked for an inventory of publicly available charging-station locations and usage statistics; staff agreed to provide that data.

Why this matters: the county’s energy budget is substantial and the work session made clear the county will continue to prioritize measures that demonstrate reasonable payback and measurable savings rather than pursue technologies solely for their environmental value. Commissioners asked staff to place the county’s Ready for 100 resolution back on a future agenda for discussion and to return with requested clarifications on credits, charging infrastructure, and subscription program economics.

Next steps: staff will provide follow-up details on credit transferability, a map and utilization report for charging stations, and further analysis of subscription program break‑even assumptions and rebates. The board directed staff to schedule a discussion of the Ready for 100 resolution for a future agenda.