JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – JEA is failing to plan a transition to local, affordable, and reliable clean energy, the Sierra Club’s 2025 Dirty Truth report found.

According to the report, JEA has received its third consecutive “F” grade despite the utility’s grade increasing from 4 out of 100 last year to 7 out of 100 this year.

The annual Dirty Truth Report grades 75 utilities across the country on their plans to retire coal plants by 2030, not build new gas plants through 2035, and transition to clean energy through 2035. According to the report, while JEA customers’ electricity bills are rapidly increasing, the utility is “overwhelmingly failing” to transition to clean energy.

“It is alarming that for the first time since 2021, utilities are regressing on their clean energy transition,” said Sierra Club Chief Program Officer Holly Bender. “By adding more gas and keeping costly coal plants online, utility companies are ignoring renewable energy—the cheapest form of energy—and forcing their customers to pay more.”

This past spring, JEA approved a rate increase to help pay the annual debt from Plant Vogtle, a nuclear power facility being built in Georgia. JEA is responsible for $3 billion of its cost.

“Our annual debt service for Plant Vogtle is $170 million a year. A hundred and 70 million a year. And that’s just for debt service,“ JEA spokesperson Karen McAllister said last week.

The rate increase is set to take effect on Oct. 1.

RELATED | Bill for troubled Plant Vogtle coming due soon, that means more rate increases for JEA customers

In 2022, the Sierra Club and other environmental groups called on JEA to shut down the Northside Generating Station within the next 30 years, claiming their studies showed it’s one of the biggest air polluters in Jacksonville.

In August, JEA unanimously voted to proceed with plans to build a brand-new generating plant at the site of the former St. Johns River Power Park.

According to JEA, the new gas plant will help enhance power generation capabilities and meet the community’s growing energy needs in the years to come. It is expected to be operational by 2031, with the total project cost not to exceed $1.57 billion.

The new facility will replace the electricity generated by the Northside Generation Station Unit 3, which is set to be retired by 2031.

“JEA has time and time again shown its allegiance to high-polluting, high-cost fossil fuel power,” said Suzanne Sapp, Sierra Club Senior Campaign Organizer said in response to the new gas plant plans. “These volatile energy sources threaten public health and skyrocket our energy bill. Instead of continuing to burn expensive coal into the future, JEA can take advantage of solar incentives now and retire Northside’s aging coal units. Doing so would cut energy bills for Jacksonville families and put our city on track to a sustainable, affordable energy future.”

MORE | ‘So proud and happy’: JEA Board approves new $1.57B generating plant to boost power supply

News4JAX asked JEA about the report, and a spokesperson said it would issue a statement at some point on Monday.