JEA Approves Rate Increase

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Members of JEA's board have approved a rate increase designed to cover the rising cost of the fuel the agency burns at its plants.

The approved plan will bump up the electricity portion of the average JEA customer's bill by $19.20 per month for July, August, and September. Then, starting October 1, that amount would drop slightly to $18.09 per month.

So, an average customer who now pays $122.66 per month for electricity will pay $141.86 in July, August, and September. Then, from October on, that average customer will pay $140.75 each month.

Those figures are only for the electricity portion of the bill -- the other utilities, including water and sewer, are not affected.

The $140.75 figure for October and the months afterward also already includes a separate 5.5 percent rate increase that has been planned since last year.

JEA officials say the cost of the fuel they burn in their power plants has gone up dramatically, and this increase will cover those costs.

The price JEA pays for coal, for example, has doubled in the past six months. Natural gas and a solid fuel called petroleum coke have each gone up by around 46 percent in that same period.

Officials figure the company needs $631 million to pay for fuel for the 2008-2009 fiscal year. This is higher than the $510 million expense that they expected. Even with some other changes and savings, officials expected to be $61 million in the red if they didn't increase this rate.

The new, higher rate will come in addition to rate hikes already planned through 2010. Last year, customers saw an increase of 6.25 percent. They will see a 5.5 percent hike this October (which is already included in the $140.75 figure given above). Next year, the scheduled increase will be 5.25 percent and it will be 3 percent in 2010.

Many leaders with JEA say there is no way around the proposed increases. The JEA rate hike will have an impact on many customers.

To do the rough math yourself, take your current JEA bill and multiply what you pay for electricity by 1.157 (a 15.7 percent increase). That will give you a ballpark figure for what to expect in the months of July, August, and September. For October on, multiply what you pay for electricity now by 1.147 (a 14.7 percent increase).

Remember, the increase only impacts the electricity portion of your bill -- don't multiply the numbers for services like water and sewer. And the number you'll get is very approximate, since your electricity use may change a lot as you crank up the air conditioning this summer.