A current of partisan politics will be pulsing through JEA’s proposed rate increase as the Republican Party tries to tie the cost of JEA utility bills to Mayor Donna Deegan.
If the JEA board agrees with the utility staff’s recommendations, the base rate for electricity on a typical residential customer’s bill would go up 8.2% and the cost of water and sewer for an average residential customer would increase 6.5%
Since Deegan became mayor in July 2023, she has appointed two of the seven JEA board members who have sole authority in the City Charter for setting JEA’s electric and water rates.
After Deegan filed April 16 for re-election, Republican Party of Duval County Chairman Charles Barr said in response that Jacksonville families are “paying the price” of higher utility bills.
City Council President Kevin Carrico has called a proposed JEA rate hike unacceptable. Council member Rory Diamond said he plans to have a meeting with other council members about whether they would support a voter referendum on changing the JEA board to an elected body.
“If there were elected board members at JEA, we would not have rate increase after rate increase after rate increase,” Diamond said. “They certainly feel totally unaccountable right now.”
Over the weekend, an attack text sent to Jacksonville residents by a Miami-based political committee about what it called “Donna Deegans JEA” said the utility’s rates “keep rising” and it is time to “clean house.”
City Council member Matt Carlucci said the text message underscores criticism he’s lodged against a special council investigative committee that Carrico formed to look into matters involving JEA. Carlucci said the City Charter establishes JEA as an independent authority so it will be free from the “whims of politics, and we’re doing exactly the opposite.”
“Right now, there’s a lot of politics going on with JEA and I think that smear text message on the mayor shows exactly what is happening,” Carlucci said. “Someone out there is playing mayoral politics with JEA.”
JEA says it seeks to keep utility rates ‘as low as possible’
Deegan has said during her recent town hall meetings when residents brought up utility bills that the JEA board has rate-making authority.
City spokesman Philip Perry said JEA has a “professional and independent board of directors” going through a public process to “address the perfect storm of operational needs and utility industry pressures, while minimizing the impact on residents.”
He said Deegan “understands the struggle that many people are facing” and has put in place programs the city has responsibility for so people can better afford the basics, particularly housing and health care.
JEA says that even if the proposed increase takes effect Oct. 1, a customer’s combined utility bill for electricity and water would still be among the lowest in Florida.
JEA spokesman Myers Vasquez said the utility “is committed to keeping costs as low as possible while providing the reliable services our customers depend on every day.”
“Like many industries, rising operating costs driven by inflation, stricter regulatory requirements and growing demand are increasing the cost to serve our community,” Vasquez said.
JEA increase would affect base rate part of electric bill
JEA electric bills vary month to month depending on the fuel charge portion that JEA assesses for what it costs to purchase the fuel — mainly natural gas — used in power plants.
For a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, the bill since October has been as high as $151.25 this month and as low as $127.52 in November before adding in state and local taxes and fees.
The base rate portion of that bill is $91.62 and is what the proposed increase would impact. The base rate for a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours would rise to $99.15. It would be the latest in a series of base rate increases since the base rate was $76 per month in mid-2021.
JEA’s base rate covers its cost of debt payments, equipment purchases, salaries, annual contributions to the city, compliance with environmental regulations, construction and maintenance of generating plants and the electric grid, and other everyday expenses.
The base rate also includes JEA’s steep expense of buying electricity from Plant Vogtle in Georgia because of a binding agreement in 2008 that has cost far more than JEA originally expected.
JEA is forecasting the fuel charge portion of the bill that fluctuates each month will be lower for the year starting Oct. 1 which would offset much of the increase in the base rate. But the the fuel charge can go up when unusually intense freezing weather causes natural gas prices to spike as happened in February so projections are dependent on weather.
JEA appointments split between council president and mayor
After the failed attempt to sell JEA in 2019, voters approved a City Charter amendment that ended the mayor’s ability to appoint all seven board members by giving the City Council president the power to appoint a majority of the board.
Of the three mayoral-appointed seats on the board, Deegan appointed Kawanza Suarez and reappointed John Baker who was originally put on the board by Lenny Curry when he was mayor. Deegan recently reappointed Joe DiSalvo, who was previously appointed by Curry. City Council has not yet voted on confirming DiSalvo.
Council member Ron Salem appointed MG Orender and Rick Morales when he was council president, and Randy White appointed Donald “Worth” McArthur and Arthur Adams when he was president. Carrico recently appointed Randy Wyse to replace Adams, whose term is up, but the council’s Rules Committee deferred voting on Wyse and DiSalvo.
Carrico appointed Wyse when his first pick — Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida President Paul Martinez — withdrew from consideration after Carrico sent a text message to Adams saying he was appointing Martinez as “a big favor to a friend.”
State Attorney Melissa Nelson’s office has sent subpoenas to City Council and to JEA seeking records about appointments to the JEA board.
Carrico created a special council investigative committee that is examining allegations of a toxic workplace culture under CEO Vickie Cavey and JEA’s collection of capacity fees from some large-scale commercial customers.
Deegan has said Cavey faces a “smear campaign” that started after she decided against renewing a local and federal lobbying contract with Ballard Partners. Former JEA chief of staff Kurt Wilson testified to the special investigative committee the mayor’s office wanted JEA to end that contract.
Miami political committee sends text messages about Deegan and JEA
After Deegan filed paperwork last week for the spring 2027 election, Jacksonville residents began receiving text messages about JEA.
“Donna Deegans JEA is plagued by controversy,” the text says. “Under CEO Vickie Cavey, rates keep rising and Jacksonville families foot the bill. Time to clean house.”
The text has a link saying the communication is paid for by Citizens in Control. Florida Division of Elections records show Citizens in Control was formed in January 2025 and is based in Miami.
Campaign finance records though March 31 show the only contribution to Citizens in Control was an in-kind contribution worth $2,147 by Omniai Networks in January 2025. The financial records show no expenditures by the committee.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Partisan politics jolt proposed JEA rate increases
Reporting by David Bauerlein, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
