New JEA Rates Take Effect Today, Adding About $3 to $6 to Monthly Bills

JEA's new electric and water rates took effect October 1, meaning every Jacksonville household served by the utility will see higher charges on its next bill. The board-approved increase raises electric rates by 6.2% and water and sewer rates by 8%, changes JEA says are needed to close a revenue gap and pay for infrastructure projects including a new $1.57 billion natural gas power plant.

JEA's board approved the increase back in June. For a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month, the utility estimates electric charges will rise by about $3.02. A household using 6,000 gallons of water will pay roughly $5.82 more for water and sewer service each month, pushing a typical combined bill from $77.75 in April to about $83.50 now.

The new electric structure carries a $21 basic monthly charge, plus $0.07815 per kilowatt-hour for the first 1,000 kWh used and $0.09705 per kWh above that. Water customers pay a $13.77 base charge plus tiered usage fees and city franchise fees.

Fuel costs could soften the hit

JEA says some customers may not feel the full increase right away. Fuel costs, what JEA pays to buy natural gas, petroleum coke and coal on the global market, dropped sharply between April and October. A 1,000 kWh electric bill that would have been $170.37 in April is now projected around $8.70 lower, even with the base rate increase layered in, because the fuel charge fell from $58.63 to $43.26 for that usage level.

Fuel prices move with global events, including wars and cold-weather demand spikes, and JEA passes that cost directly to customers without markup. That means next spring's bill could look different again depending on what happens with fuel markets between now and then.

Checking your own bill

JEA has updated its online bill estimator so customers can plug in their own usage rather than rely on averages. Electric customers need their monthly kilowatt-hour usage; water customers need their meter size and monthly gallons. Detailed rate schedules are posted under "Electric Tariff Schedules" and "Water and Wastewater Tariff Schedules" at JEA.com.

Some customers have pushed back hard. A half dozen residential customers raised concerns at a recent JEA board meeting, including one bill that reached $600. Board member Arthur Adams asked staff to work directly with those customers to figure out why their charges spiked. JEA says it will keep offering home energy audits on request and is working with the city on a potential grant program to help homeowners pay for minor efficiency repairs.

Despite the increases, JEA points to data showing its customers had the second-lowest average utility bill among Florida's major metro areas in August, at $230.21, behind St. Petersburg's $308.19.

Normandy Village customers switch to JEA

The same October 1 date marks another change for 1,315 households in Normandy Village, who officially became JEA water and sewer customers after years of outages and boil water notices under the neighborhood's previous utility provider. JEA has managed the system for the past year and says there have been no boil water advisories or sewer overflows since it took over, both previously common problems.

JEA says those customers will now pay about $30 less per 5,000 gallons of water and sewer service than they did before, and will get a single combined bill covering both electric and water service. The utility is also rebuilding Normandy Village's wastewater system using a $20 million grant.

JEA has not said when the next rate review will happen, but fuel costs are reassessed periodically and could shift bills again before next spring.

Stay with Jacksonville Community Website for continuing coverage of JEA rates and other local utility news, and join the conversation in our Community Forum to share how the new rates are affecting your household. For more on this and related topics, check out our alerts and community coverage.

Header photo: Mathew105601 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)