JEA customers in St. Johns County say water bills unusually high after Hurricane Irma

Water bills doubled, even tripled, for some JEA customers this month.

JEA said it’s because of Hurricane Irma.

Now some customers are telling Action News Jax that they are refusing to pay their bills until it’s fixed.

“The bill is usually around $100, maybe $110. This time, it was $170," customer Adam Cassidy said.

Several people in St. Johns County have water bills from JEA that they said are unusually high.

"It looked odd because it was about $80 more than it was last month," Cassidy said. 
 
A JEA spokesperson said because of Hurricane Irma, crews were not able to manually read water meters, so those customers received estimated bills this billing cycle.

"I understand there was a hurricane, you're going to have to make adjustments and certain changes, but you could notify somebody," Cassidy said. 
 
Cassidy thinks JEA should have done things differently without increasing his bill.

“They could have duplicated the previous month’s bill or just held onto the bill and not sent the bills out," Cassidy said.

JEA said about 2.5 percent of its accounts billed this month had estimated readings. Michelle Anderson was also one of these customers.

"JEA has been a good company, so I would hope they would honor and give a deferment," Anderson said. 
 
A JEA spokesperson said that meters will be re-read and accounts will be credited and people could call and request a re-read before the bill's due date.

Cox Media Group