Clearwater council advances appraisal after NewGen study finds potential savings from municipal electric utility

Clearwater City Council on Sept. 29 voted unanimously to authorize an appraisal and further work on whether the city should form a municipally owned electric utility after a presentation of a feasibility study by NewGen Strategies and Solutions.

The council’s decision follows a detailed feasibility presentation by Scott Burnham, partner with NewGen Strategies and Solutions, who told the council “our feasibility suggests that Clearwater would, in fact, have what we call a lower effective all‑in rate” than the investor‑owned utility that now serves the city.

The vote moves the city into a next phase — an appraisal and potential negotiations with Duke Energy — rather than committing to purchase. Councilmember Ryan Cotton, who made the motion, framed the decision as more than dollars and cents: “This is about sovereignty,” he said during debate.

NewGen findings and why the council moved forward NewGen’s analysis compared the cost to operate a city distribution system — including purchase of distribution assets, bond financing, startup and reintegration costs, and ongoing operations — against projected Duke Energy retail rates. The study modeled a 30‑year period starting 2026 and estimated a Clearwater MEU effective all‑in retail rate of about 12.94¢/kWh in year one versus roughly 14¢/kWh for Duke, producing a sample residential saving of about $17.70 a month for a 1,000 kWh customer in year one in the study’s assumptions.

The presentation detailed key components the study used: - Estimated reproduction value (new less depreciation) for distribution assets: $572,000,000 (NewGen estimate). Concentric Energy Advisors, the consulting firm used by Duke, presented a higher valuation scenario with a high‑end estimate of about $1.11 billion. - Start‑up and transition costs: NewGen used a startup estimate of roughly $133 million and separation/reintegration costs in the tens of millions (NewGen cited about $70 million in one slide for separations in higher scenarios). - First‑year modeled costs (2026): operating costs about $142 million,…