JEA Bill

[uptowngirl]

I find it hard to beleive JEA is considered a low cost provider in the SE, I have lived in big old houses in multiple states in the SE and never had bills so high, even in colder areas then NE FL. Of course those states had multiple power companies available to select which helped keep costs down. JEA would not need to touch the reserves if they had good management. Right now, this instant I have a JEA crew working on my street fixing the same thing for the sixth time in the last 18 months, there are about 12 people out there watching one guy jackhammer the street.....sounds like they got too much staff no?

[ChriswUfGator]

JEA lies. They have two rates one "off peak" and one "peak" though they only advertise the off peak rate. Unfortunately most of the power you use isn't at 4am so guess which rate you're really paying. Additionally, not included in the advertised rate are the bevy of B.S. fees JEA charges, like fuel surcharges, a regulatory compliance fee (even though they aren't regulated by any agency), the COJ franchise fee that JEA simply passed along to us taxpayers that already supported the system to begin with, storm water fees, etc., etc., etc.

JEA is, IMO, the highest cost utility provider in the state. It costs more to run my 2BR 1k sq ft place in Jacksonville than my parents pay to run a huge house with 6 ac units, pool pumps, outbuildings, etc. I actually meant to ask for a copy of their FP&L bill ovdr christmas so I could post it up alongside my JEA bill for whoever was misguided enough to think we're getting any kind of deal on electricity. It's probably a moot point, since after their latest series of rate hikes I think everyone is painfully aware of how outrageous JEA is.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

You have two examples above, and there's definitely 3 different rates.  Put your bill up, and compare notes.  And actually most of us do use power in what you would call off-peak, because most of us are at work from about 7-7.

[ChriswUfGator]

You have two examples above, and there's definitely 3 different rates.  Put your bill up, and compare notes.  And actually most of us do use power in what you would call off-peak, because most of us are at work from about 7-7.

You don't use power at work? I bet you do. Do you turn off the main breaker to your house, disconnecting the ac/heat and all the parasitic losses for electronics that are off but still plugged in? If not then you're still using power. And even if you're doing all of the above, guess what, you're still getting billed as if you didn't, since JEA has began laying off meter readers in favor of quarterly or even less frequent meter readings, and they "estimate" your usage based on some internal formula. Which means they literally just make up a number and bill you for it. So you're still getting billed for it anyway.

Most of the meters can't even record what time how much power was used, all this is based on undisclosed internal formulas that are no doubt designed primarily to increase JEA's profits by assuming that most use occurs on peak, even if the opposite may be true in your case. JEA has redefined its rate structure so that most of the power consumed is billed at a higher rate than the one they advertise, regardless of when the power is actually consumed on an individual level. I think it's deceptive at best.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Average Retail Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State, September 2010
South Atlantic        11.31
Delaware               14.18  
District of Columbia 13.99
Florida                  11.76  
Georgia                 10.61  
Maryland               15.06  
North Carolina        10.55
South Carolina       10.29
Virginia                 10.61
West Virginia          9.28

Jax Pastor (before taxes & fees) - 11.62
NRW (before taxes & fees)         - 11.79

So tell me, are the rates posted in line with the state average?  And they pass on additional costs (taxes, fees, etc.) to the user just like any other business, so I don't see what all the griping is about, they are operating like a 'business' and not a government welfare agency.  Do I hate paying my bill?  Yes.  Is there something I can do about it?  Yes.

If you think you're getting jacked by JEA, it's time to evaluate what's more important to you, running your 50" plasma, your desktop in the office, your laptop in the living room, the fridge in the kitchen, the fridge in the garage, the mini-fridge in the office, the lights on when you're not there, the automatic coffee pot, the other 3 plasmas in the bedrooms, the ps3, the x-box, the wireless router, the 2 cell-phones charging, the pool-pump running, the house staying at a comfortable 72 deg year round thanks to your dual-system a/c unit with heat pump, the 1500 amp stereo, the cable boxes, etc....   If you're like most of us, you use a lot of shit.  So then, why bitch about your bill being high and undisclosed formulas and peak/off-peak rates and deceptive practices and so on and so forth.  We use a lot of 'hidden' energy.  Consumption is at an all time high because of the amount of people that are using what I listed above.  

So what say you?

[Lunican]

I don't think people realize how much electricity flat screen TVs use. Much more than the old CRTs.

[BridgeTroll]

A couple years ago I discovered a rather large energy saver.  Your hot water heater can contribute 30% to your electric bill.

Insulate your water heater

Find the circuit breaker that supplies power to the heater.  Immediately following your last shower or usage in the morning... throw the breaker and turn it off.  The insulation will keep the water hot all day for washing hands etc.  Prior to turning in for the evening... throw the breaker and turn the heater on for hot water for morning showers.

trust me... it will save some cash...

[tufsu1]

If it was acting like a business, then we taxpayers, who funded the damned thing would be entitled to a return of the billions of dollars that we put into it as the initial and operating capital.  

JEA provides a pretty significant return to the City coffers each year

[BridgeTroll]

How much tufsu?  I imagine our budget woes would be even greater without that return...

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Mostly, the point I'm making is that there's a bunch of bitching about the cost, but the basis of that cost is overlooked.    We're not being charged $400 a month because of JEA's evil schemes, but because of our life choices.  Think about this:  if 2/3s of the homes in jacksonville only had the basics - AC, TV, Comp, (1) Fridge would JEA have to keep expanding it's power output?   I think not.  It costs money to expand and those costs are transferred directly to the consumers.  If you consume more you're going to pay more - what's so hard about that?  It's people like myself that are causing JEA to HAVE to increase capacity.  

If you can't afford to pay for the maintenance and upkeep, then don't buy the toys.  Example - when I shut the pool down for the winter my bill drops considerably, but I want the pool, so I'm keeping the pool.  I don't blame JEA for charging the shit out of me to use it and I think I do pay a higher rate when I hit a certain threshold, but why shouldn't I?

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

A couple years ago I discovered a rather large energy saver.  Your hot water heater can contribute 30% to your electric bill.

Insulate your water heater

Find the circuit breaker that supplies power to the heater.  Immediately following your last shower or usage in the morning... throw the breaker and turn it off.  The insulation will keep the water hot all day for washing hands etc.  Prior to turning in for the evening... throw the breaker and turn the heater on for hot water for morning showers.

trust me... it will save some cash...

The easier way to do this is to add a timed switch.   It's an easy fix that anyone (with a little common sense) can do themselves being that everything is pretty much exposed at most water heaters.  They're about $20 at Home Depot. 

[JagFan07]

A couple years ago I discovered a rather large energy saver.  Your hot water heater can contribute 30% to your electric bill.

Insulate your water heater

Find the circuit breaker that supplies power to the heater.  Immediately following your last shower or usage in the morning... throw the breaker and turn it off.  The insulation will keep the water hot all day for washing hands etc.  Prior to turning in for the evening... throw the breaker and turn the heater on for hot water for morning showers.

trust me... it will save some cash...

BT, I use one of these and it saves me a ton an my bill

http://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-WH40-Electric-Water-Heater/dp/B00004W4XI

[BridgeTroll]

Thanks jagfan... I actually had one in a previous home.  Sometimes I got caught without hot water if trying to shower "out of cycle".  The circuit breaker method works well and provides "manual" flexibility.  Of course if you for get to cycle the power back... COLD SHOWER...

[JagFan07]

I've had the same issue. Luckily the "Little Grey Box" I have has an override switch. I am so forgetful I would never remember to turn it off or back on.

[jaxpaxpastor]

Redneck:

I'm sorry to take issue with you but, as stated in my initial posting that evidently hit a JEA "hot" button -- literally and figuratively -- we have made every effort and investment not only to enhance the value of our property and Springfield through landscaping, replacing a white picket fence with an historical one, installing awnings, and generally beautifying our block ... but we also replaced almost every existing appliance we inherited when purchasing the property with new, energy-efficient ones.  All in all, we spent over $10,000 since buying and moving into the place to make it more energy-efficient.  Keeping our thermostats upstairs and down set at 67 degrees isn't extravagant (IMHO) ... we have one-old fashioned TV and one larger LCD, both of which are watched less than an hour or so each day ... and, yes, two computers with (Comcast--I won't get started here on them!) that we do work on several hours each day.  Our life and routines don't change much from month to month and asking to be relatively comfortable rather than freezing with thermostats set at 50 degrees isn't (again, IMHO) outrageous or excsessive in exchange for a reasonably-priced utility bill.  So, to see such an enormous spike from our previous bills -- about $215 each month in December, November, October -- to $525 now in January raises our suspicion that some entity is robbing us -- and y'all! -- blind.  Literally!