City Council member Matt Carlucci said new financial numbers from JEA show it’s in a stronger position than utility leadership has portrayed.
JEA’s recently published unaudited fourth-quarter 2019 financial performance analysis ending Dec. 31 shows the utility with a total net position of $3.3 billion, a $232.3 million increase over the same period in 2018. Net position is how the city-owned utility measures its value.
Carlucci says the data another indicator that JEA officials did not present a full picture to the public of the utility’s financial health when it pitched selling to a private company in July.
“This is the ship that was sinking, remember, going off the cliff in a death spiral,” Carlucci said in a Feb. 19 interview.
The report shows revenue for JEA’s electric system was up $4.2 million in the fourth quarter, up 1.1% from 2018. The water and sewer system reported a $17.86 million increase, or 16.7%.
JEA reported total operating expenses on the electric side fell $22 million from fourth quarter 2018, mostly because of a decrease in the cost of buying power, including a reduction in natural gas prices.
Carlucci cited other inconsistencies with the financial projections JEA used to justify selling the utility.
During a “Future of JEA” Council workshop Dec. 9, JEA officials reported a decline in power sales from fiscal year 2006 to 2019.
A Jan. 23 Council Auditor’s report found that JEA’s presentation omitted the loss of an electric sales contract in December 2017 with Nassau County’s public utility to Florida Power & Light Co.
The loss in electricity sales was used to justify a negative financial outlook and to push a sale to a private company, according to the Council Auditor’s report.
Carlucci was one of the first local elected leaders to call for a grand jury investigation into issues related to JEA’s canceled push toward a possible sale.
He met with State Attorney Melissa Nelson on Jan. 3 regarding JEA, about two weeks after she announced that her office was looking into matters involving the utility. Nelson handed off her probe to federal investigators 10 days later.
Carlucci said he recently spoke with a former JEA CEO who told him the incoming JEA board will be “flush with money.”
He would not identify which former JEA chief made the comment.
Mayor Lenny Curry is expected to file Council legislation in February to appoint seven members to the JEA board of directors. Meanwhile, JEA canceled its previously noticed Feb. 23 meeting
The fourth-quarter analysis also had some negative data. Factoring out fuel and purchased power, expenses in JEA’s electric business reportedly increased by $4 million.
Operating expenses on the water side of the utility increased by $3 million, the report states.
JEA continues to pay down its debt. The utility reported a $286 million decrease, bringing the utility’s total debt to $3.33 billion.