PSC asks court to block Miss. Power rate increase

JACKSON – (AP) Regulators want the Mississippi Supreme Court to block Mississippi Power Co.'s attempt to raise rates.

Mississippi Power has appealed the Public Service Commission's denial of a rate increase that would allow it to begin paying off the interest costs of the $2.8 billion power plant it's building in Kemper County. The company is seeking permission to collect the increase during the appeal, with a promise to repay if it loses.

If the Supreme Court doesn't rule by Aug. 8, the unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. can impose half the $55 million rate increase it seeks. If the court doesn't rule within 180 days of the July 9 filing of the suit, Mississippi Power would be allowed to impose all of the rate increase.

The average residential customer would pay about $20 a month more under the proposal.

Both the state and the company have urged the court to act on the rate increase without a hearing.

The PSC commission unanimously denied the rate increase earlier this month, saying they wanted to wait until the Sierra Club challenges to the PSC's decision to build the plant run their course.

The Sierra Club opposes it because it says burning coal would contribute to global warming, even though the plant plans to capture carbon dioxide and pipe it to oilfields to be injected into the ground. The case is currently in Harrison County Chancery Court and appeals could run past the plant's scheduled completion in early 2014.

State lawyers argue in a Tuesday response that, contrary to company claims, the firm hasn't proved it has suffered “irreparable injury'' or “undue hardship.''

Mississippi Power must meet those legal thresholds to collect the money.

Mississippi Power said the commission's action flew in the face of the PSC's previous pledges to allow the company to collect money from its 185,000 customers while it's building the plant, as well as the evidence in the rate case.

The company argues that it's being harmed in part because credit rating agencies look negatively on it having to borrow so much money to pay for the plant. The price tag of the plant has risen by $400 million in recent months, nearing the cap imposed by the Public Service Commission.

jfdghjhthit45