JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Public Service Commission on Friday denied Mississippi Power Co.’s request for a rate increase to help pay for a power generating plant.
Southern District Commissioner Leonard Bentz says he doesn’t want to grant a rate increase until the state Supreme Court rules on litigation surrounding the $2.76 billion coal-fired plant in Kemper County.
The denial likely means Mississippi Power will get none of the $58.6 million it had requested for 2012 to pay debt on the plant’s construction.
Filings with the PSC show that the average residential customer’s bill would’ve increased $20 a month.
Average bills for the company’s 185,000 customers would’ve been 15.7 percent higher over six months. On a yearly basis, bills would’ve risen 7.8 percent.