A JEA rate increase proposed in April for the “base rate” portion of electric bills would fall heaviest on customers whose consumption is in the lower range — such as someone in an apartment or a small house. Those who tap into higher levels of electricity might end up seeing a comparative reduction in the base rate part of their bills.

While the change in the base rate would vary among residential customers, the biggest factor on the bottom-line cost for all JEA customers continues to be the fuel charge part of the bill that ballooned because of global spikes in the cost of natural gas used for generating electricity at power plants.

JEA’s outlook shows its fuel cost, which caused bills to grow in leaps and bounds, on a path to fall over the next five months so customers will pay less even with an increase in the base rate.

Read the rest of this story at the Florida Times-Union, a Jacksonville Today news partner.