Sean Schrader, spokesperson for the St. Pete and Clearwater Energy Alliances, said utility municipalization efforts—like proposed city takeovers of electric utilities in St. Petersburg and Clearwater—often encounter escalating costs and legal challenges, citing national examples where such initiatives ballooned expenses for local residents.
“The pattern in other municipalization efforts is that the idea moves faster than the implementation,” said Schrader. “Once cities get into real-world details—asset valuation fights, eminent-domain litigation, multi-year timelines, transition staffing, power-supply contracting, and bond financing—the costs and uncertainty can balloon. Boulder, Colorado is a well-known example of a long, expensive push that ran into years of legal and regulatory complexity before the city ultimately changed course.”
According to Schrader, city efforts to assume control over electric utilities often face practical obstacles beyond initial planning stages. He pointed to Boulder, Colorado’s experience with municipalization as an example of the broader risks and costs involved. Boulder taxpayers spent nearly $29 million over a decade pursuing municipalization before abandoning the initiative in 2020. The process involved extensive litigation with the incumbent utility, resulting in cost overruns that far exceeded initial estimates. Ultimately, the city renegotiated a franchise agreement to avoid further expenses…