The JEA board agreed Tuesday to raise the basic monthly charge on all residential customer bills, but in the complicated world of utility rate-making, another change in the rate structure will end up saving money for high users of electricity compared to their costs now.
The base rate is the portion of the bill that covers JEA's cost for providing everything but the fuel used to generate electricity. The fuel charge swings up and down on a monthly basis depending on what it costs JEA to purchase natural gas and coal at its plants.
Northside Coalition President Ben Frazier told the JEA board during its rate hearing that the new base rate structure, which will kick in starting in April, is a "classic example of economic injustice" because it raises rates the most for people who are least able to afford it.
Read the rest of this story at the Florida Times-Union, a WJCT News partner.