Some JEA customers see charges on account for days when power was out

Some JEA customers are seeing charges on their accounts for the days that their power was out.

Ed Goggans is one of them.

“Our lights have been out since Friday,” Goggans said.

He is seeing charges to his account for days when his Westside Jacksonville apartment has no power.

“[I’m] very frustrated and angry because nobody can give me an answer,” he added.

JEA spokeswoman Gerri Boyce said customers like Goggans who have JEA’s “MyWay” pay-as-you-go billing are seeing those bogus charges.

Boyce said if JEA cannot get a read on your meter -- for instance, when you don’t have power -- the system automatically charges you a daily estimate based on your prior use.

“Do not be concerned. Once you receive power, we will true that up. You will not be disconnected and your credit with JEA will be fine,” Boyce said.

“Stop it. We are your customers, OK? We are your base for your income, OK? How are you going to abuse the people who pay your salaries?” said Goggans.

If you have JEA’s “MyBudget” levelized billing, which charges customers based on a 12-month rolling average of their usage, your bill for this month will be the same as usual. Boyce said any days a MyBudget customer spent without power will lower their average starting next month.

From the Westside to Mandarin, there were still neighborhoods all over Jacksonville without power Tuesday.

“I consider this totally insane,” said Carmen Rosario, who lives in an apartment complex on Jacksonville’s Westside.

Rosario said she’s been through several hurricanes in her native Puerto Rico, but has never been without power this long.

“When you saw the island the next day, it looked like a piece of gum, chewed. But we never spent five days without electricity,” Rosario said.

After missing its self-proclaimed 11:59 p.m. Monday deadline, JEA has no estimate of when power will be restored to all its customers.

“I just want everyone to know, this is not only frustrating to our customers. It is frustrating to us,” Boyce said.

Boyce said JEA has brought in help from out of state, quadrupling its number of crews.

“We had crews planned for the day of the storm, we had crews planned for the days after, and the day after that. And that worked really well,” Boyce said.

Try telling that to Rosario.

“I’m afraid also because it’s too dark during the nighttime, it’s very dark. I mean, something could happen,” Rosario said.

Boyce also said there are scammers pretending to be JEA representatives taking advantage of Hurricane Matthew.

“They've called quite a few of our customers to tell them they owe money and they're blaming it somehow on Hurricane Matthew. Please, do not fall victim to this,” Boyce said.

JEA said the best way to avoid falling victim is know what you do and do not owe the electric company by checking your online account.

Cox Media Group