Clearwater City Council is moving forward with the next steps in establishing a municipal electric utility, rather than contracting electric service through Duke Energy.

By a unanimous vote Monday, Mayor Bruce Rector and all four members of City Council voted to seek an appraisal for acquiring Duke Energy assets and a timeline.

The vote came after a presentation from NewGen, a consulting firm that serves municipal utilities, on a feasibility report it conducted for the city of Clearwater looking at establishing a city-owned electrical utility.

Clearwater’s franchise contract with Duke Energy ends Dec. 31.

In addition to the presentation, which laid out details of how much the city might spend to acquire Duke’s assets as part of a transition and how much ratepayers might sav

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