MERIDIAN, Miss. (AP) ā Mississippi Power says its $2.8 billion lignite power plant is on track to open in May 2014.
Ed Day, president and CEO tells The Clarion-Ledger (on.thec-l.com/P7iQOv) that construction is about 40 percent complete on the plant north of Meridian in Kemper County.
Itās been a rough year for the project.
Cost overruns increased the price from $2.4 billion and reduced Mississippi Powerās credit rating. The Mississippi Public Service Commission denied a $55 million rate hike to recoup some of the construction costs during construction.
The PSC has set a $2.88 billion cost cap ā considered a rare step for utility regulators.
PSC member Brandon Presley, who has consistently voted against the plant, says he is skeptical of whether the utility can keep costs beneath the cap.
Previous Comments
This plant is wholly unnecessary, it burns lignite (the ‘dirtiest’ coal), it’s operation is potentially damaging to the environment, the technology it uses is not proven, it’s expensive, and the Mississippi Power Company’s ratepayers will undoubtedly carry much of the burden of paying for this project with no guarantee of recouping the costs – even if the technology proves successful. Unbelievable.
#865 | Author: jamesparker | Date: Aug 21 2012
