Leaders with JEA answer questions about higher utility bills, customer usage

JACKSON, Tenn. — Leaders with Jackson Energy Authority have heard loud and clear the public’s questions concerning their recent utility bills. Now they’re giving their customers answers.

Questions from customers have included “Why is my bill so much higher than last month’s?”, “Why is my bill higher than my next-door neighbor’s” and “Why is my bill so high and I’m never at home?”

Leaders with Jackson Energy Authority say these are some of the questions they hear on a daily basis.

Harrell Carter, host of the recent NAACP City Council and Mayoral Forum, says many people who attended the event asked questions about their utility bills.

“There were several complaints about whether their meters were actually read. I think we had several of those complaints,” Carter said.

Robert Mullins, JEA’s senior manager of operations, says they make sure to read every meter every month, and they’re tested out before being installed.

“One-hundred percent of meters that are installed and put on houses, within our service territory, residential meters and commercial meters, are actually put on a test bench to test those, where they pass through a current that will replicate a lighting usage,” Mullins said.

Haylee Brinkly, a customer who lives at a local apartment, says she doesn’t know how her utility bill is being calculated.

“Where is our use coming from? What is causing it?” Brinkly said.

‘The biggest impact of electric usage and gas usage, and really utility usage all the way around, is weather,” Mullins said.

“Why is my bill going up every month even though I am not changing anything?” Brinkly said.

“People may say, ‘Well, I left my home and I didn’t use much,'” Mullins said. “A lot of things use electricity that we don’t think about. It could be your refrigerator that’s running, it could be your electronics. There’s a lot of electric uses that we don’t think about in our house.”

Leaders with JEA say if you have questions or concerns about your bill to contact them at 731-422-7500.