Jacksonville city council member Garrett Dennis holds meeting on JEA customer assistance, support

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax’s Ryan Nelson is talking to JEA customers that will be affected by JEA resuming service disconnection, tonight on CBS47 & FOX30 Action News Jax at 5.

Following an announcement that JEA would resume disconnection of services on July 7, Jacksonville City Council member Garrett Dennis held a noticed meeting Tuesday morning to discuss options to assist customers at risk of disconnection.

“There are currently 24,223 JEA accounts at risk of disconnection and it is alarming that in less than a month these accounts may be disconnected. It is our responsibility as elected officials to help our most vulnerable. I believe there are steps we can take to help customers immediately and look forward to having this discussion with my colleagues and the leadership team at JEA,” Dennis said.

JEA said its goal is to have zero disconnections and released the following information to help customers in need:

Beginning July 7, approximately 400 disconnects per hour will occur between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. each day until operational disconnects are completed. To avoid the possibility of disconnection, JEA is asking that customers act now by calling 904-665-6000 or by visiting jea.com to pay their balance, request a payment extension/arrangement, or sign up for the MyWay prepay billing program.

Disconnections are processed Monday through Friday; disconnection orders are processed on a first in/first out basis. Accounts with delinquent balances that pre-date March 16, 2020 will be disconnected before all others.

Service reconnections initiated by customer payment will be prioritized and processed ahead of pending disconnections to expedite the reconnection process.

Web applications have been modified to allow customers to obtain payment arrangements online in a more simple and efficient manner.

JEA is providing staff and other assistance to partner agencies to help with their operations; JEA call center agents will also be trained on referral information for each agency.

What JEA is doing to help:

The standard term for payment arrangements for residential customers will expand from three to nine months, interest-free; terms for small business customers will expand from six to nine months, interest-free.

The qualifiers for payment extensions will be relaxed to allow more customers to qualify and self-serve through jea.com or our IVR system.

Customers ineligible for deposit waivers may pay half of the deposit rather than the full deposit to start service; the remaining portion must be paid with the first bill. Additional deposit assessments on existing small business accounts will be suspended through October 2020.

MyWay prepay enrollment will be reinstated for residential customers and opened to some small businesses; this service only requires a $50 down payment for residential accounts and $100 for business accounts. The down payment may be higher depending on the balance owed. The remaining balance can be paid over time.

Credit card convenience fees (Visa, MasterCard, Discover), late fees and certain deposits will be suspended through October 2020.

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