GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. — The City of Green Cove Springs is making a new plan to push up power prices after turning down the original plan it considered to raise electric rates by 22% between now and October 2026.
Action News Jax has been telling you about the city’s proposals to raise electric prices for months. The city wants to raise rates to make up for a nearly $3 million budget shortage. If it does, the city says it would be just the second time electric rates have gone up in Green Cove Springs since 2016 after a separate increase was approved last year.
Some people like Mike Kelter, who lives a few minutes from City Hall, want city council to find another way to make more money.
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“You’ve got to have some cash in your pocket, but you can’t do it by running everyone out of town,” Kelter said. He told Action News Jax he’s worried a rate increase could make the cost of living in the city too high for those who are retired and living on a fixed income.
During city council’s meeting on Tuesday night, members voted against the 22% increase plan. City council then recommended the city look at coming up with a plan to raise rates by 16%, instead. If it ends up being approved, it would include an 8% increase in June 2025, then a 6% increase in October, and a final 2% increase in October 2026, based on the timeline of the original plan.
Some city council members told the audience an electric rate increase is inevitable, while others said they believe the city needs to look at “every possible avenue” of making up the budget shortage before raising rates.
Kelter says he doesn’t want to see people plugging away just so they can afford to plug in.
“There will be a rate increase, I’m sure. But it doesn’t need to be the gargantuan rate increases that the city is doing,” said Kelter.
City council has asked city staff to put the new 14% increase plan on the agenda of an upcoming regular or special city council meeting. The city hasn’t yet shared which meeting the plan will be added to, but the next city council meeting is set for 6:00 PM on Tuesday, June 3rd.
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