The Mississippi Sierra Club Applauds The Mississippi Public Service Commission
July 17, 2009
Contact:
Louie Miller 601-624-3503
The Mississippi Sierra Club Applauds The Mississippi Public Service Commission Action Protecting The Ratepayer Against Ms. Power’s Dirty Coal Plant Proposal
The Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) once again ruled that Ms. Power Company (MPCO) proposed Kemper County IGCC Lignite Coal plant will not get a “blank check” from the ratepayers as demanded by the MPCO attorneys. MPCO was vying heavily for the ratepayers to “pick up the tab” for $60 plus million dollars in “preplanning costs’ the company has incurred to date on the proposed project which has not even received approval by the MPSC. (see attached documents)
“This amounts to little more than shifting the entire risk of this $2.5 BILLION dollar boondoggle from the Fortune 500 corporation and its stockholders to the ratepayers”. “We welcome and applaud the action of the MPSC commissioners”; stated Louie Miller; State Director of the Sierra Club in Mississippi. “The MPSC has once again proven that there is a new sheriff in town and it is not business as usual. The Commissioners take very seriously their role in protecting the public’s pocketbook while providing reliable and affordable electricity.”
The Sierra Club strongly feels that this MPSC investigation into this proposal will reveal that it involves risky, unproven technology. Specifically, their ongoing analysis will reveal that Integrated Gas Combined Cycle (IGCC) will without doubt be shown to be the most expensive and dirty way to generate electric power for Mississippians. Research comparisons in other states have found that on a per megawatt basis, IGCC is not even in the ballpark of being cost effective when compared to other available technologies.
“Why else would MPCO want the ratepayers to serve as their ATM machine for this project?” ,noted Miller. Obviously there are numerous options to be considered before the State of Mississippi goes down the path of saddling rate payers for decades to come with billions of dollars of debt.
The only conceivable reason for such a costly proposal is to enrich MPCO and its stockholders at the Mississippi rate payers expense. Unlike other businesses, MPCO and Entergy/MS are guaranteed a 12% rate of return on every dollar they spend; therefore the more the companies spend, the more money they make.
Currently’ there is almost 3 times the peak demand of power for the entire state of Mississippi in clean natural gas; already built and sitting idle. Why? The MPSC stated as part of its order that these sources of power and other energy options along with energy efficiency are on the table and should be given serious consideration despite the objections of MPCO. These are important steps to move Mississippi toward a clean, affordable energy future; rather than repeating the mistakes of the past.