JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The JEA Board on Tuesday voted to increase its electric base rate.
So, when you get your JEA Bill next month you might notice a difference but it may not be in a bad way — at least for now.
JEA said residential customers may see the electric portion of their bill decrease, depending upon usage.
Compared to a December 2023 bill, electric bills will decrease by about $1.30 for 1,000 kWh of consumption based on fuel charge projections for April 2024, JEA said.
JEA said its fuel rate for April, $31.24 per 1000 kWh consumption, will reach the lowest level since November 2021.
The rate increase will take effect on April 1.
“We also anticipate that we’ll continue to have the lowest residential utility bills compared to other major metropolitan areas in Florida, even with a modest rate increase,” JEA said in a release.
Gail Ward learned about the increase Tuesday afternoon.
“Oh, Lord Jesus how high can they go?” Ward said.
Ward said she doesn’t think her bill is reasonable.
“No, I think they are insane with these prices, really I do. How they think people going to live,” Ward said.
JEA said for the average customer the bill will drop because the cost of the natural gas they use to make the electricity is less for now.
That’s the good news, but we also learned that JEA has many projects in the pipeline to upgrade the utility to meet environmental standards.
For example, the Northside generating station. A portion of it will be shut down by 2030 and a high-tech natural gas facility will be built which will cost about $1 billion.
JEA board members said a lot more has to be done before this happens. And they want to make sure they are on the right path. The current board chairman Bobby Stein said they don’t want to see another Plant Vogtle situation — that’s the nuclear power plant in Georgia that JEA agreed to help build and buy power from.
“Everybody thought Plant Vogtle, everything was thoughtful. We had great people making those decisions and it’s a billion dollars over budget. Our piece is over a billion dollars and we want to make sure we are making the best decisions possible,” Stein said.
In fact, in the next four years many projects under consideration could cost JEA over $4 billion.
JEA officials said because of those projects, and the costs from Plant Vogtle, customers can expect to see rate hikes every year for the foreseeable future.
All of this is happening at a time when JEA was in the news for the trial and conviction of former JEA CEO Aaron Zahn who has cast a shadow over the city-owned utility. The board on Tuesday talked about that and also talked about bringing in consultants to help them make decisions about the future of JEA.
“Aaron Zahn was a different situation. He was looking to sell the utility,” Stein said. “What we are looking to do is spending money and building infrastructure, so it’s a completely different thought process than what Aaron Zahn was doing.”
In the next few months, there will be a special board meeting and workshops designed to look at the future and keep the process very public.