Mar 2 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Jennifer Jacob Brown The Meridian Star, Miss.



If you talk to representatives of Mississippi Power, you will hear all about the economic benefits that the proposed Kemper County lignite power plant will create for East Mississippi -- from hundreds of jobs to eventual power bill savings.

But if you talk to some of the Lauderdale County landowners who will likely see power lines built on their property once the plant is constructed, you'll hear something altogether different.

At Monday's meeting of the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors, local landowner Thomas Webb presented a long list of complaints against the construction of the plant.

Those complaints included the cost of the plant -- $2.2 billion to be added to the bills of Mississippi Power customers and the environmental impact.

 According to Webb: the plant could result in mercury and arsenic deposits in Okatibbee Lake; the feasibility of the lignite gasification technology the plant will use, which Webb said is not guaranteed to work; and the imposition on local landowners, who Webb said will see not only power lines, but water lines and CO2 lines, built on their property.

Webb is part of a group of landowners being represented by attorney Bill Ready, Jr. in their fight against the construction of the plant, for which Mississippi Power is awaiting approval from the Mississippi Public Service Commission.

Ready is representing people who will be affected by transmission lines from the plant, but said all Mississippi Power customers should be concerned.

"None of the Mississippi Power service customers realize that... there's no guarantee that this plant is going to work, first. Secondly, if it does work, what Mississippi Power Company is doing in Kemper County is using us as a guinea pig because this technology has not worked anywhere," Ready said. "If it works as they say it's going to work, they cannot promise and will not promise... that the (Mississippi Power customers) will get benefit from that."

Ready said he currently represents a group of landowners who could be affected by transmission lines, but said that number could easily increase. The landowners are currently waiting to find out whether the Public Service Commission will allow Mississippi Power to build the plant, which will turn a type of coal called lignite into a gas used to generate electricity.

If PSC approval is gained, Ready said his clients, as well as any Mississippi Power customer, can file suit in chancery or federal court to contest the construction and operation of the facility. In that suit, if it is filed, plaintiffs could seek a court order to stop the construction of the plant.

He said his clients, who all stand to be affected by power lines from the plant, could enter a legal battle with Mississippi Power over imminent domain. Ready said if a landowner does not voluntarily sell or give their land to Mississippi Power, the power company can file a suit to attempt to take the land by imminent domain -- and the landowners can battle it out with the power company in court.

Mississippi Power has repeatedly answered questions about the cost of the plant, saying that the $2.2 billion added to customers' power bills to fund the plant's construction will be more than made up for by fuel cost savings that will appear on their power bills later. They also say the plant will provide a huge economic benefit to East Mississippi by creating hundreds of direct jobs, more indirect jobs, and dramatically increasing the tax revenue of Kemper County.

According to Mississippi Power, the plant is as environmentally friendly as coal plants get, with a large majority of its carbon dioxide emissions being captured for eventual sequestration underground. The lignite mine that will accompany the plant, they say, also has a minimal environmental impact, with land being rebuilt to resemble its original state once it has been mined.

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