Jacksonville, Fla. — JEA was set to cut power to a number of its customers today. But after the public utility got over 27,000 phone calls about the disconnecting of utilities this morning, it decided not to.
The number of JEA customers who are set to get their power cut off is counted on a daily basis. Last week those counts amounted to more than 39,000 customers.
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Update: 9/19/22 8:40 p.m.
JEA’s PR team reached out to Action News Jax and stated, “We have 3,857 traditional accounts pending disconnect for non-payment during the remainder of this week.”
Original story:
JEA tells me today that 120 customers were scheduled to get their power disconnected because they have not paid their JEA bill since August.
“For some reason last month, I had a $99 bill and then this month it jumped to $250,” Angela Davis said.
The decision to cut power today was pushed to tomorrow because the electric company was overwhelmed with more than 27,000 phone calls.
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“What was your experience when you went to call JEA today? It went straight to voicemail. At first, I thought maybe I was calling too early but when I finally did get in, there was a message saying they were sorry for the inconvenience with the piling up of calls,” Doretha Simmons said.
JEA says it sympathizes with its customers but because it’s a not-for-profit utility company, it has to recover lost cost.
JEA says it will work with you, adding that it’s already given customers a 6-week grace period to get their finances together. As soon as a customer pays, services will be restored.
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“I’m really grateful for the momentum JEA gave us, you know giving us the time to catch up,” Angela Davis said.
“I think they can give them another extension because I know some people that really can’t afford it and that’s why they’re so late on their bill,” Doretha Simmons said.
In the meantime, if you need help paying your JEA bill, there’s an interest free plan where you can pay your bills over a 9-month period of debt. There are also extensions. For more information on visit the following link https://www.jea.com/assistance/
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