by David Chapman
Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Electric Authority’s board of directors held two meetings Tuesday but the atmosphere, audience and topics couldn’t have been more different.
The Board’s monthly meeting, the second of the two, was attended by members of the media, public and other interested parties who wanted to hear about JEA’s rate hikes, fiscal year 2009 budget, a second quarter fiscal year 2008 operations overview and April operations report, a mayoral proclamation and a few concerns from one former City Council member during the public comments section.
Former Council member Suzanne Jenkins voiced her displeasure about the proposed $15 fuel rate increase on behalf of her client, Roger Kellogg, president of Kellogg Properties. The group’s local interests include Midtown Centre, an office development off Beach Boulevard.
“My client has a lot of concerns about how this will impact his tenants,” said Jenkins, while addressing the Board. “This will have a huge impact, with costs being squeezed on businesses large and small.”
Jenkins said that JEA should reduce and restructure personnel, taking a “top-down look” so costs are not handed down to the public. She also said JEA should exhaust other options before instituting another rate increase.
In the end, JEA’s Board of Directors voted in favor of the $15 fuel surcharge to offset the cost of rising fuel prices.
The fiscal year 2009 budget presentation outlined record high fuel costs for gasoline, petroleum, natural gas and coal as reasons for the rate adjustment. The presentation also showed other areas in the country that have experienced, or will be experiencing, a rate hike.
In order to maintain the company’s credit rating, the fuel fund had to be balanced in some fashion, said JEA Executive Director Jim Dickenson.
Other highlights from the 2009 budget included increased customer communication regarding conservation, reduced expenditures requests on projects, and the company’s efforts to invest in projects that would maintain environmental performance.
While the second meeting was standing room only, the Board’s first meeting – an open discussion with Mayor John Peyton – was more subdued.
The meeting was attended by Peyton and several JEA parties and included dialogue that focused on some of the issues JEA is currently facing. Those issues include climate change, water resource management, the health of the St. Johns River, having a ready workforce and keeping a satisfactory customer experience.
“This is a real opportunity to have in-depth time together,” said Board Chair Cynthia Austin. “Hopefully, we’ll have more of these in the future.”
One of those main points was climate control.
Federal and state legislation that will affect emissions will also affect how JEA approaches renewable resources, said Dickenson, even though the majority of energy produced is currently non-renewable.
Dickenson said that JEA is exploring joint partnerships with nuclear facilities, with a goal of 10 percent of all JEA business being nuclear by 2018.
When Peyton inquired about solar and wind power, Dickenson said that Florida isn’t a prime location for wind power and that even with vast amounts of sun, solar power is costly and doesn’t always maximize its output. Additionally, Dickenson added that JEA is looking into building biomass and landfill gas plants on a smaller scale as energy alternatives.
Overall, several board members were pleased with the initial discussions between Peyton and the board as a whole.
“It went well and it’s important to have dialogue like this,” said board member Ashton Hudson. “A lot of us know the mayor, but we’ve never had a sitdown as a group to discuss things.”