KEMPER COUNTY, Miss.–The Kemper County coal plant is an expensive venture, and if you’re a Mississippi Power customer, you’ve been helping pay for it. In a ruling by the state Supreme Court Thursday, the court decided not to rehear the company’s argument that the state Public Service Commission was in the right when it approved rate increases in 2013 and 2014.
In other words, the PSC did wrong when it approved the rate increases, and will now have to go back through the process to make the rates go back up.
The ruling affects about 186,000 customers in south Mississippi who get their power from Miss. Power.
The court earlier this year determined that the PSC should have conducted public “prudency hearings” before the three-member board arbitrarily allowed the increase. That means the Commission exceeded its authority under the law.
“Ratepayers should not be bound by decisions made by the Commission which do not comport with the laws of our State,” said part of the ruling.
The rate increases were 14 percent in 2013 and another three percent in 2014.
You can read Thursday’s ruling here.
