Residents in and around Holly Springs could soon be getting both answers and solutions for perpetual power outages across the area.
Back in March, Northern District Public Service Commissioner Chris Brown sounded the alarm that customers of the Holly Springs Utility Department had fallen victim to random losses of power for the better part of the past five years. To make matters worse, utility customers were given no sufficient answers as to why this inconvenient phenomenon continued to occur.
When authorities began to assess flaws within the utility provider’s services, a multitude of major red flags were discovered. For starters, a transformer in the district that exploded five years ago had yet to be replaced, further highlighting the lack of attention to the power infrastructure by the HSUD, which encompasses Marshall, Benton, Lafayette, Hardeman, and Fayette counties in Mississippi and Tennessee.
On top of customers going days without power, conditions in the service district were found to have become so dangerous in recent years that power workers from companies outside of the HSUD refuse to assist after a catastrophic event.
To address this matter head-on, lawmakers in Mississippi passed Senate Bill 2453 to grant the Public Service Commission authority to investigate utility providers to ensure they are delivering adequate services to residents. If the commission finds that sufficient services have not been provided, the utility department could have its certificate revoked and would not be allowed to provide services further than one mile beyond its corporate boundaries.
In this case, the HSUD would not be able to operate outside the city of Holly Springs if the utility provider loses its credentials. The HSUD is run by the city of Holly Springs, despite more than 80 percent of users living outside of the city’s limits.
Since the legislation was enacted, the Public Service Commission called on an independent firm to assess the utility provider. Pennsylvania-based Silverpoint Consulting is carrying out the inquiry into the HSUD’s provision of electric services. Among its strong suits, Silverpoint Consulting boasts consulting expertise in the reliability and service quality of the utility provider realm.
“We’re executing the bill that the legislature passed,” Brown said. “We have an independent audit on the ground now that’s going through the operations side, and so when they’re done, we’ll go into a hearing phase to try to discern exactly what’s going on and come up with solutions to fix that problem once and for all.”
Brown remains optimistic that answers will arise throughout this investigative process, especially as local leaders have stepped up to work with regulators and the independent firm.
“I’m proud of the aldermen there,” Brown added. “The aldermen are cooperating with us and TVA in our investigation. They’re doing a good job.”
