Many Jacksonville businesses would pay higher JEA bills for electric, water and sewer service under newly proposed recommendations on rates and monthly charges.
JEA, which has scheduled a board workshop for 9 a.m. Oct. 29 to discuss the possible changes, said the recommendations are designed to cover the nonprofit utility’s rising costs of providing service.
The proposed rates and charges, which were developed by staff working with consultants, would be applied in April 2025 and October 2025 if approved by the board.
The recommendations apply to electricity, water and sewer usage rates and to basic monthly charges, which apply to meter reading, billing, collections, customer service and a portion of distribution costs.
Here is an outline of the recommendations as contained in a presentation that will be made to the board in the workshop. To see the full presentation, visit www.jea.com/liveboardmeeting and click the Meeting Materials under the board of directors workshop for Oct. 29.
To view a PDF of the report, click here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L-mN_JlU5Vjf6YjkSOe0Gxualwr1RfP1/view
Small businesses
• The basic monthly charge would increase $2 in April 2025 and $2 in October 2025, rising to a total of $25 from the current $21.
• The energy usage rate would increase 6.3% in April 2025 and 2.2% in October 2025.
• Depending on the level of energy consumption, an increase in the bill would range from $7.90 per month to $61.04 in April 2025 and $4.16 to $23.55 in October 2025.
JEA serves more than 50,000 small businesses in Northeast Florida.
Large businesses
• The basic monthly charge would increase $18 in April and $20 in October, to a total of $223 from the current $185.
• The energy usage rate for large businesses would go down 2.2% in April 2025 and 0.8% in October 2025.
• Depending on the level of energy consumption, the change in the bill for a large business could range from an $8.51 increase to a $7.31 decrease in April 2025 and a $4.35 increase to a $21.74 decrease in October 2025.
JEA classifies about 3,800 customers as large businesses.
Industrial businesses
• The basic monthly charge would increase $75 in April 2025 and $100 in October 2025, to a total of $925 from the current $750.
• The energy rate would increase 12.4% in April 2025 and decrease 0.4% in October 2025.
• Depending on the level of energy consumption, bills for industrial customers would rise from $879.58 to $4,902.51 in April 2025. The range in October 2025 is from an increase of $69.32 to a decrease of $84.07.
JEA serves about 200 customers it classifies as industrial businesses.
As noted in the JEA presentation, the amounts for electricity charges and rates do not include fuel costs, taxes and fees. Fuel costs are what JEA pays for the fuels it uses to generate electricity, such as the natural gas it burns to produce power.
Nearly all businesses would see a reduction in basic monthly charges under a proposal that scales charges to the size of the water line serving a business. Combined, the April 2025 and October 2025 recommendations would result in an increase of $1 for businesses on the smallest water line, 5/8-inch, and decreases of 67 cents to $3,020.50 for businesses on lines from ¾ inch to 20 inches.
Monthly water volume charges would increase across the board $1.20 between the April 2025 and October 2025 recommendations combined.
April 2025 would bring increases in basic monthly charges of $15.93 to $4,440.57, depending on the size of a business’s sewer line. The charge would not be adjusted again in October 2025.
Monthly sewer volume changes would decrease across the board $1.22 between April 2025 and October 2025 recommendations combined.
The effect of the rate changes on businesses would vary widely, depending on the size of piping and volume.
In its presentation, JEA calculated how the changes would affect the approximately 20,000 businesses with 1-inch lines, which make up 23% of JEA’s business customers.
For businesses with low volumes of water and sewer usage, there would be monthly increases of $27.45 in April 2025 and $2.87 in October 2025 in their water and sewer bills.
For businesses at average volume, bills would increase $26.47 in April 2025 and $4.36 in October 2025.
High-volume customers would pay $25.30 more in April 2025 and $6.15 more in October 2025.
Those figures include taxes and fees.
In an Oct. 23 session with reporters, JEA staff members said factors behind the proposal included that water and sewer rates had not been adjusted in 12 years despite a rising cost of providing those services and millions of dollars spent to repair, expand and modernize infrastructure. Inflation has also driven up costs, as have ongoing supply chain issues that have increased the price of materials such as transformers and utility poles.
Then there is JEA’s long-term agreement to purchase power generated by the Plant Vogtle nuclear facility in Georgia at about $250 million per year over the next 20 years. The cost reflects delays and cost overruns in the construction of the $35 billion plant.
JEA, which entered the agreement in 2008, sued to get out of the deal as costs increased but ended up settling.
To balance costs and revenue, JEA worked with consultants to devise a strategy of increasing basic monthly charges, restructuring residential rates and boosting commercial and industrial rates.
The April and October changes will affect JEA’s 2025 and 2026 fiscal year budgets, respectively. JEA’s fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
For water and sewer service, JEA listed its operating cost in FY2025 at $521.4 million and its projected revenue at 2024 rates at $506.3 million, leaving a $15.1 million gap. The various recommendations together would raise 6% additional revenue.
For FY2026, JEA listed its operating cost at $570.1 million. Revenue based on the proposed FY2025 changes would be $547.3 million, leaving a $22.8 million shortfall. The recommendations would generate 4.2% additional revenue.
On the electrical side, JEA lists its FY2025 costs at $879.4 million. The current revenue structure would generate $843.7 million, leaving a $35.7 million gap. The recommendations would generate 6% additional revenue, which still leaves a $10.5 million shortfall.
JEA lists its FY2026 costs at $932.2 million and estimates that the FY2025 recommendations would generate $893.5 million, leaving the utility $35.7 million short of covering costs. The recommendations would generate a 4.5% increase in revenue, which would close the gap.