Florida regulators have approved JEA's request for additional power to build a $1.57 billion, 675-megawatt natural-gas plant on Jacksonville's Northside, clearing a key hurdle for a project the utility says is needed to replace aging infrastructure and keep pace with growth across Northeast Florida. The Florida Public Service Commission's approval affirms that JEA needs the extra generation to support construction of the combined-cycle facility, which is slated to begin operations in 2031.
The new plant, known as SJRPP Unit 3, will rise on the footprint of the former St. Johns River Power Park, a coal-fired plant JEA and co-owner Florida Power & Light shuttered in January 2018 before imploding its cooling towers and smokestacks by 2020, according to News4JAX. That 1980s coal facility cost $1.45 billion to build and was retired early to curb regional carbon emissions. As reported by News4JAX, the JEA Board approved plans for the combined-cycle plant last August, and the facility will replace and augment the output currently provided by Northside Generation Station Unit 3, a 49-year-old natural-gas unit.
JEA board chair Jody Brooks called the state's approval a significant step forward in providing Jacksonville residents with reliable, sustainable power for generations to come, per the station's report. The utility also points to its broader emissions record, noting it has cut carbon emissions by 53 percent since 2007 and decommissioned Plant Scherer Unit 4 in Juliette, Georgia — moves it says the new combined-cycle plant will help continue.
Why Combined-Cycle Technology Matters
Unlike traditional simple-cycle gas units, combined-cycle generation pairs gas turbines with secondary steam turbines driven by exhaust heat, producing as much as 50 percent more electricity from the same volume of fuel, according to JEA technical specifications reported by the same outlet. That dual-turbine design also lowers carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt-hour compared with older single-cycle plants, improving both efficiency and reliability as demand grows across the utility's territory.
The plant sits on 194 acres near San Carlos Creek and the Timucuan Preserve, close to sensitive wetlands and shipping channels off Heckscher Drive, according to a site certification application the Florida Department of Environmental Protection processed in July. As Florida's largest municipal electric utility and the nation's eighth-largest community-owned electric utility, JEA serves more than 540,000 customers across four Northeast Florida counties through a system of four generation plants and 744 miles of high-voltage transmission lines, Hoodline has reported.
A Decade of Delay Before the Green Light
JEA leadership first recommended replacing Northside Unit 3 back in 2012, but the project stalled for more than a decade amid economic headwinds and a failed 2019 utility privatization scandal that led to a complete leadership turnover at the municipal utility, according to Jacksonville Today. JEA eventually issued a request for proposals in late 2024 and selected GE Vernova in early 2025 to build the turbines.
That timing was not incidental. Turbine delivery times from manufacturers like GE Vernova have stretched up to seven years industrywide, driven by surging demand from artificial intelligence data centers, manufacturing expansion, and grid reliability projects nationwide, Action News Jax reported last September. Locking in a production slot early helps explain why JEA moved as quickly as it did to secure both manufacturing capacity and regulatory approval.
The Long-Term Price Tag and Pushback
While the upfront construction cost is pegged at $1.57 billion, the total cost borne by JEA ratepayers over 30 years is projected at roughly $6 billion once debt service, fixed operating costs, and natural gas fuel are factored in, according to the same Action News Jax report. JEA plans to pay off the project over three decades while ending the term with a debt-free facility.
That long horizon has drawn criticism. The Sierra Club publicly opposed the project last September, warning that committing $1.57 billion to natural gas locks Jacksonville into 30 years of higher utility bills and greenhouse gas pollution instead of expanding solar and battery storage, per Utility Dive. Consumer advocates cited in that report argue solar and storage have become increasingly cost-competitive for meeting peak power needs.
The debate also touches JEA's own climate targets. The utility's board approved an Electric Integrated Resource Plan in April 2023 setting goals of reaching 35 percent clean energy in its generation portfolio and cutting overall carbon emissions 80 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, according to the Jax Daily Record. JEA's clean energy share stood at approximately 4 percent when those targets were set.
The Regulatory Standard Behind the Approval
Under Section 403.519 of the Florida Statutes, the Florida Public Service Commission serves as the sole forum for determining whether a proposed power plant is needed, weighing factors like system reliability, reasonable cost, fuel diversity, and the availability of renewable energy or conservation alternatives, according to The Florida Senate. An affirmative determination creates a legal presumption of public necessity under the Florida Electrical Power Plant Siting Act, giving JEA a clearer legal path forward even as environmental groups continue to press for alternatives.
