ST. PETERSBURG — More than a year after the idea was first floated, St. Petersburg city leaders took the first step July 31 toward studying what it would mean to drop Duke Energy as the electricity provider citywide.
The vote of the City Council’s sustainability committee was 2-1 in favor of drafting a resolution asking Mayor Ken Welch’s administration to put out a call for bids for consulting firms to complete such a study. Only three members voted because the committee’s fourth member, Corey Givens Jr., left the room before the vote, despite speaking in opposition.
“We need to pump the brakes,” Givens said not long before walking out…