Florida TaxWatch examines the City of Clearwater’s plan to acquire Duke Energy Florida’s electric distribution assets and establish a municipal electric utility (MEU) in response to concerns over electric rates and service quality. While the City’s feasibility study projects modest short-term rate savings, Florida TaxWatch finds those projections rely on unrealistic assumptions—most notably an “overnight” conversion that ignores the likely decade-long, costly eminent domain process required to acquire Duke’s assets. Drawing on national municipalization case studies, the report highlights high failure rates, underestimated acquisition and severance costs, loss of economies of scale, and substantial financial exposure for taxpayers. Florida TaxWatch concludes that the proposed MEU represents a high-risk endeavor with limited upside and recommends the City pursue a renegotiated franchise agreement with Duke Energy Florida as a more prudent path forward.