by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Having already sold its premium brand of cold air to the City, JEA is trying to expand the market for its newest product to downtown’s highest profile properties.
JEA spent $15 million to build two downtown chilled water plants. The plants chill air and ship it to buildings, replacing central air systems and the massive chillers they require. Removing the individual plants creates office space for rental or storage and puts the maintenance burden on JEA, according to a spokesperson for the utility, Ron Whittington.
The imported air costs more than the electricity the buildings would use to crank out their own, but Whittington said the extra cost could be offset with increased rental revenues and decreased maintenance costs. Property managers would also save, Whittington said, when it came time to replace their on–site plants.
“We’re talking to the big office buildings downtown where the chillers are 15 to 20 years old,” said Whittington. “We want to get with them before they decide to replace their plants; convince them to extend our chiller lines instead.”
The plants heating and cooling individual buildings cost from $800 to $1,200 per ton to install, said Whittington. A large building like Independent Square could spend up to $3 million to install chillers capable of handling its 2,000–ton load.
Along with Independent Square, JEA has targeted the Landing as a possible customer. In addition to forgoing replacement costs, Whittington said the Landing could earn $1 million in rent annually from its plant space. He said JEA had made a presentation within the last month to the Landing’s management.
JEA’s plants already do substantial business downtown, mostly with municipal clients. The City will spend about $2.5 million to supply conditioned air to the Veterans Memorial Arena, Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, the new Duval County Courthouse and Main Library. The first plant, which opened in April 2003, already supplies the ball park, arena and the privately–owned Amsterdam Sky Cafe. Whittington said the second plant would open in time to supply the new Laura Street Main Branch Library when it opens late this year.