This story was reported in collaboration with News4JAX.

JEA received a subpoena on Friday from State Attorney Melissa Nelson’s office seeking a broad swath of communication records about the agency’s CEO, Vickie Cavey, as well as discussions involving City Council President Kevin Carrico and a high-powered lobbying firm that employs former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry.

The subpoena, obtained by the Florida Trib and News4Jax, suggests prosecutors remain interested in probing what has mushroomed into an increasingly bitter but convoluted feud that has stirred internal anxiety within JEA, which has struggled to find stability for years, and reignited longstanding political divisions between the City Council’s Republican leadership and the Democratic mayor.

Prosecutors are demanding records related to numerous controversies that have swirled around JEA and the City Council since February, when Carrico, the council president, attempted to replace a member of JEA’s board of directors with his boss at the Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Florida, describing the move in a text message as a “big favor” for a friend.

Carrico responded to public criticism of his decision by accusing Cavey of overseeing a toxic and racist culture at JEA, though without providing any specific accusations of wrongdoing. Nelson’s office sent Carrico a subpoena for more of his communication records after that text thread — between Carrico and a JEA board member whom he was hoping to replace with his boss, Paul Martinez — became public.

Since then, the Republican-controlled City Council formed an investigative committee to examine the workplace culture at JEA under Cavey, while Mayor Donna Deegan, a Democrat, has defended the agency and characterized Carrico’s allegations as a “smear campaign” because Cavey nixed a lobbying contract with Ballard Partners, a well-connected lobbying firm that employs Curry, the city’s former Republican mayor.

The subpoena to JEA indicates Nelson’s prosecutors are casting a wide net to learn more about the back-and-forth allegations.

It demands JEA turn over emails, texts and other communication records since July between the agency’s board members about appointments to the board of directors; any board discussions about Cavey; any communication records to or from Cavey’s former chief of staff, Kurt Wilson, that involve Carrico or board member Ric Morales, who had asked Cavey to step down from her post; any communications to or from Ballard Partners; and any records that contain a mix of key words, including “racist” and “toxic.”

Carrico created a council committee last month to examine JEA’s workplace culture, which has thus far not turned up evidence of pervasive toxicity or racism. During a committee meeting Monday, former JEA Board Chair Joe DiSalvo disputed claims that JEA’s workplace is toxic. “Our work environment can be intense, but it is professional and driven,” DiSalvo said.

DiSalvo also argued JEA was designed to operate independently of shifting political pressures. He asked the committee to give the board the space to look into some of the claims and concerns.

JEA, Jacksonville’s city-owned electric, water and sewer utility, has weathered controversy since Curry’s tenure in office, during which one of his allies, Aaron Zahn, took over the agency and attempted to privatize it. That effort ignited public backlash and prompted an investigation by the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office that ended with Zahn’s conviction on counts of conspiracy and wire fraud.

The utility sends a substantial portion of its revenue — about $140 million — to City Hall’s general fund to help pay for public services. Last year, it agreed to pay an additional $40 million to help the city navigate what was expected to be a tighter budget year.

Some council members have knocked the utility for a planned rate increase later this year. Council members Rory Diamond and Ron Salem suggested during Monday’s committee meeting that they may expand their review of JEA beyond workplace culture to include scrutinizing JEA’s spending on a new natural gas plant. “I was caught completely by surprise,” DiSalvo said of the committee’s questions about the natural gas plant.

“The (plant) has been in the works for at least three years… and that came out of the blue to me.”

News4Jax reporter Chris Will contributed to this story.

Nate Monroe is the executive editor of The Florida Trib. He can be reached at nate.monroe@floridatrib.org.