Business Blog

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 [...]

MBJ writer Clay Chandler just submitted a story, saying the Mississippi Supreme Court will hear oral argument Jan. 28 related to the Sierra Club’s ongoing legal opposition to Mississippi Power Co.’s Kemper County coal plant. >> Read story …  

Mississippi Business Journal readers, so far, are overwhelmingly against Mississippi Power Company being awarded a rate increase which would help pay for the Kemper County coal plant. Mississippi Power is appealing to the Mississippi Supreme Court the Public Service Commission’s decision not to act on rate increase requests until the litigation surrounding the facility is [...]

>> SEE UPDATE AS OF THURSDAY MORNING …. JACKSON — State utility regulators have asked Mississippi Power Co. and the Sierra Club to submit proposals on how to proceed with the Kemper County coal-fired power plant. The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled on March 15 that the Public Service Commission failed to lay out its reasoning [...]

The Mississippi Public Service Commission is considering amending a rule that would prohibit utilities from being allowed to charge customers for private jet expenses that are above costs of “coach” travel. Commissioner Brandon Presley made a motion to open a docket to amend the rule in July after Mississippi Power Company asked the Commission’s permission [...]

Every year, hunters flock to the Delta to take advantage of some of the best public hunting land in the state offered by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks’ wildlife management areas (WMAs) and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Complex. This year, however, hunters are wondering if [...]

By Amy McCullough Sierra Club attorney Robert Wiygul says he will file his appeal of the Harrison County Chancery Court decision at the state Supreme Court today. Harrison County Chancery Judge Jim Persons released his decision yesterday (Feb. 28) affirming the Mississippi Public Service Commission’s decision to allow a $2.4 billion clean coal plant to [...]

By Amy McCullough kemper-decision (Click this link to read full text.) Harrison County Chancery Judge Jim Persons has affirmed the decision of the Mississippi Public Service Commission to allow the construction of Mississippi Power Company’s $2.4 billion clean coal plant in Kemper County. The decision states: “Under the laws of this State, this Court must [...]

By Amy McCullough GULFPORT – While lawyers prepared for the hearing upstairs, more than 20 Gulf Coast residents rallied in the lobby of the Harrison County Chancery Court on Feb. 14, as Mississippi Sierra Club director Louie Miller explained a lawsuit with a pair of flip flops. Miller held up a pair of the popular [...]

By Amy McCullough Here we go again. The Kemper County clean coal plant got approved this summer, but Mississippi Power Company (MPC) and the state Public Service Commission are still continuing the coal vs. natural gas debate that we first began writing about in December 2009. This time the subject is MPC’s coal-fired Plant Daniel [...]