Electricity bills in Jacksonville are going up, again, as the squeeze on family finances from “Bidenomics” continues.
Government-caused inflation – “Bidenflation” — and the Biden administration’s financing of the war in Ukraine are among the reasons the JEA is raising rates.
Currently, the average (residential) electricity rate in Jacksonville is 8.58% greater than the Florida average rate and 4.38% greater than the national average.
The average monthly bill is $123.
The base rate went up in April and probably will go up again next April as the JEA begins looking at its rate structure again, eyeing a 2.9% increase that would boost revenue $13 million..
Residential customers also pay a 3% franchise fee, 2.5641% gross receipts tax and 10% public service tax.
Bills fluctuate monthly as the utility adjusts the fuel charge, which is a pass-through cost for the fuel used by JEA. That fuel primarily is natural gas, which is at the highest price it has been in 15 years. One reason is the loss of natural gas from Russia.
Fifty years ago, the JEA was hit hard when the oil cartel quadrupled prices overnight while JEA was 100 percent dependent on oil and locked into long-term contracts.
Over the years JEA wiggled out of that trap and at one point had the lowest rates in the state.
Another factor is the purchase of a stake in a nuclear power plant in Georgia. The cost will be billions and the JEA cannot forecast the effect it will have on customer’s electric bills, but experts say it will take a combination of luck and skill to offset the enormous cost.
