LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Residents in Leesburg are seeing increases to their electric bills. City officials said the rise in gas prices is the chief contributor.

Electric bills are up, but in Leesburg the average customer of the city utilities has one bill for everything. That includes; electric, sewage, storm water, natural gas, solid waste, and water. And usage decides how much more people pay.

Sitting on his front porch, Jerry Corbett and his dog, “Little Baby Girl,” spend little of their day wasting energy.

“Yeah, this is my day. I just sit here,” Jerry says, petting his dog taking a nap. “People come by and talk to me and you know I enjoy talking to people, and I sit here with the dog and we just enjoy the world go by.”

The retired vet says his electric bill has gone up substantially. Living on a fixed income, he’s currently unable to come up with the needed funds to keep the lights on. His electric bill has risen the last few months and as a result, he got behind. They cut the power to his apartment off Monday afternoon.

But he is getting some help.

“I’ve got these power cords from my neighbor’s house to my house,” Jerry says, pointing to a pair of extension chords between the two units. “So, I have refrigeration, I have a fan, and I’ve got my TV for football.”

Leesburg City Manager Al Minner says electric costs have gone up because of gas prices and that, yes, increases will affect everyone.

“Double whammy because gas hit super high numbers super high usage months of the summer where the utility just couldn’t afford that,” Leesburg City Manager Al Minner explains. “Leesburg Electric hit about 12 million in the hole.”

Minner went over Jerry’s average usage and bills on Tuesday. Even with using minimal power each month.

Jerry’s bill saw a 49% increase or about $37 based on usage. That’s less than what others will see.

“The average bill for a Leesburg electric customer is going to be 1352 Kilowatts a month, so they are gonna see their bill jump from $167 a month to $243 a month,” Minner says.

But what concerns folks like Jerry is there isn’t much to cut back on if he wants to save money.

“I have not changed my ways,” Jerry pleads. “I still run the three little things in this apartment.”

Which moving forward will cost more to keep on.

There is some good news. Minner believes customers will see their bills go back down next year. He also says homeowners with pools and two-story homes that use more than 1,352 KW a month could see the electric portion of their bill increase more than $100 a month.