Experimental Power Plant Raises Rates and Destroys the Environment

Why haven’t any government officials spoken out against the Kemper County Coal Plant? Why has MS Power been allowed to continue building the plant even after the State Supreme Court ruled the commission failed to adequately explain its reasons for easing financial restrictions on the $2.4 billion plant? And why isn’t the Public Service Commission doing its job and protecting the public?

Building the plant involves digging up 45-square miles of Kemper County for strip mining, displacing hundreds of residents while destroying valuable streams and wetlands in the Chickasawhay flood plain, impacting the Pascagoula River system.  500 acres will be used as a dump for toxic coal ash from the plant. The plant itself will be classified as a major source of air pollution under the federal Clean Air Act. 

The plant is highly experimental hence the stockholders unwillingness to risk their own money building it. But ratepayers will be stuck with the bill even if the plant does not generate a single kilowatt of electricity!

The Kemper County area where the electricity is generated is not in Miss. Power's service area.This will be the first plant ever built in MS to be paid for by rate increases before it is put on line, it will triple the rate electricity costs in the 26 coastal counties since the plant will cost at least $4 billion dollars.  This cost is applied to citizens and small business only, since shipyards, casinos, refineries and other large businesses have been guaranteed to have no rate increase as a result of building this plant.

Why do they even want to build this plant Mississippi has twelve natural gas-fired power plants already built which sit idle 85% of the time but can provide up to 7993 megawatts of power?