Business Blog » Energy

Nuclear power plant in Mississippi emits smoke from transformer

Ross Reily — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:18:28 +0000

PORT GIBSON — Officials say a transformer at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Plant near Port Gibson emitted smoke on Sunday but the reactor was not in danger. Entergy Nuclear spokesman Mike Bowling says the incident was reported shortly before 5:45 p.m. It was resolved about 90 minutes later. No injuries were reported. Grand Gulf [...]

Drillers in Tuscaloosa Marine Shale region expect big savings from state tax cut

Ted Carter — Fri, 10 May 2013 22:05:51 +0000

JACKSON — Canadian energy company Encana estimates a new 80 percent state tax cut will save it up to $800,000 a year in oil and natural gas extraction taxes on wells it puts into production after July 1 in Southwest Mississippi’s Tuscaloosa Marine Shale development. Encana has six deep ground horizontal wells in the Tuscaloosa [...]

(UPDATED) Bryant gives drillers of horizontal oil & gas wells huge tax break

Ted Carter — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:52:50 +0000

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI — Energy exploration companies that do horizontal drilling in Mississippi will pay 80 percent less in taxes next year on oil and gas they extract. The prospect of an economic bonanza from extracting shale oil from below ground in Mississippi, especially the southwest part of the state, led Gov. Phil Bryant to make [...]

OUR VIEW: Jeopardizing a visitor industry for little in return

Ross Reily — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:53:29 +0000

The Mississippi Business Journal over the years has chronicled the exodus of Mississippi corporations, trade associations and non-profit groups to Alabama’s Orange Beach and Gulf Shores and Florida’s Panhandle for their conventions and trade shows. While we lamented the loss of hospitality dollars to our state, we conceded the lure of the sparkling sand beaches [...]

Natural gas prices rise from historic lows

Ross Reily — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:07:22 +0000

Wholesale natural gas prices have doubled during the last year, and that’s bringing sighs of relief from an unusual variety of interests. Soaring production and an unusually warm winter sent prices plunging to under $2 per thousand cubic feet last spring, prompting some to wonder whether the natural gas boom would kill demand for [...]

Reed says GOP officials were ‘duped’ by MPC

Ross Reily — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:22:46 +0000

By political columnist Bill Minor You’d hardly expect to hear a diehard Reagan-era Mississippi Republican sharply criticizing a big utility company for building a costly, unneeded — and experimental — generating plant with endorsement from state GOP leadership. Well, it has happened. Clarke Reed, of Greenville, pioneer of the state’s modern GOP, has spoken out [...]

Tornado-damaged telecom tower cripples farming efforts

Ted Carter — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 23:15:38 +0000

Even if their farms were not in the path of the April 11 tornado, hundreds of farmers will feel the loss of the massive communications tower in Noxubee County. The 300-foot-tall microwave tower located in the middle of a soybean field just northeast of Macon provided about 200 farmers and others with broadband Internet and [...]

Views differ on how friendly skies will be without air control towers

Ted Carter — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:53:01 +0000

The head of the Mississippi Airports Association insists the federal budget cutting responsible for closing air control towers at five of Mississippi’s regional airports won’t jeopardize flight safety. On the other hand, the Federal Aviation Administration concluded in a 1990 study that the risk of a mid-air collision is three times greater around airports without [...]

Charter schools get the vote; bill now goes to Gov. Bryant’s desk

Associated Press — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:10:11 +0000

After two years of struggle, a bill to make it easier to create charter schools is on its way to Gov. Phil Bryant. The State Senate voted 34-18 Wednesday to approve House Bill 369, which widens legal authority for charter schools. Senate Education Committee Chairman Gray Tollison, an Oxford Republican, says he had hoped to [...]

OP-ED — Emmerich: Google is full of bovine manure

Ross Reily — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:44:55 +0000

Google has started a big “Go Paperless in 2013” campaign. Paper, they say, is bad for the environment. It’s high time someone called bovine manure on this. Trees are organic. Trees are renewable. Tree farms reduce CO2. There are more forests in Mississippi than there were at the turn of the century. Sixty-five percent of [...]