Ricky Junquera, ricky.junquera@sierraclub.org
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA) receives a failing grade, according to the Sierra Club’s 2023 Dirty Truth Report released today. JEA’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and Ten Year Site Plan (TYSP) do not include a retirement date for its coal-powered Northside Generating Station (NGS), including plans for a new, fracked gas plant, while missing key opportunities to invest in solar with battery storage using the funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The Dirty Truth Report grades each utility on its commitment to decarbonization, from the current energy mix to what utilities have presented in their projected future investments. JEA received an “F” grade in this third year of the report tracking the top 77 utility companies nationwide.
Although clean energy is less expensive than 99 percent of existing coal and new gas generation, only 20 of the 77 utilities have plans to be entirely coal-free by 2030. Combined, these 77 utilities are planning to build 53 gigawatts of new gas plants through 2030, nearly 40 percent more than was planned last year.
Jacksonville continues to suffer in this annual report due to its continued reliance on an obsolete coal plant in Northside Generating Station, and plans to invest in costly volatile methane gas burning for future energy generation. At the same time, JEA is not meeting the moment in its undersized investments in solar and battery storage while the federal government provides funding to offset the cost of investing in clean energy alternatives to fossil fuels.
Since the passage of President Biden's IRA, only 30 utilities featured in the report have filed updated planning documents, and they received a score of 27/100, just one point higher than the average for all utilities. If utilities fully utilize the incentives in the IRA, they could save households hundreds of dollars in annual energy costs, create good-paying jobs, and reduce climate pollution for all communities.
The Sierra Club’s annual Dirty Truth Report analyzes the plans of 77 utilities owned by 50 parent companies and assigns scores and grades to the utilities based on three criteria: plans to retire polluting coal plants, whether they plan to build new gas power plants, and the scale of their investment in clean energy through 2030. In an interactive webpage, users can see their utility’s score and what progress–if any–the utility has made toward transitioning to cleaner, more affordable energy.
In response, J. Logan Cross with the Sierra Club FL Jacksonville Group released the following statement:
“JEA recently made a commitment to increase its percentage of renewable energy sources in its energy generation portfolio, a positive step. Unfortunately, it took two steps backward by approving an Integrated Resource Plan that solidified its reliance on burning fossil fuels for energy generation. The plan does not include a timeline for retiring its aging, inefficient, and highly-polluting coal-fired Northside Generating Station and a commitment to building an exorbitantly expensive combined-cycle natural gas power plant."
In earlier news:
In late August, at the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, a new survey from the Renew Jax coalition revealed that Jacksonville residents want lower electric bills, more clean energy, and for JEA to put a higher priority on securing available funding for clean energy projects in Florida.
Polling of Jacksonville area residents uncovered a growing lack of faith in the willingness of Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA) to lower customer bills, as an overwhelming majority of residents (8 in 10) say they are concerned about bills continuing to increase and fewer than half (45%) are satisfied with steps JEA is taking to lower customer bills.
Among the survey’s other findings:
- Nearly 6 in 10 residents (58%) believe JEA should increase investments in renewable energy
- More than 8 in 10 (81%) believe JEA should seek out federal funding available for clean energy projects in Florida
- More than half (53%) are unconvinced that JEA should increase natural gas investments
Click here for the full survey results.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.