South Mississippians will head to Jackson for rate-hike hearingMar 1 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Mary Perez The Sun Herald
The Public Service Commission will meet Tuesday in Jackson to hear residents' comments on the proposed 18 percent rate increase Mississippi Power requested this year. The higher rates are to cover the interest charge on the company's power plant under construction in Kemper County. Community groups from South Mississippi said they plan to fill a bus and church vans and travel to Jackson on Tuesday to protest the increase. "We're not going to sit down and be quiet," Linda St. Martin with Mississippians for Affordable Energy said Thursday during a press conference at the Isiah Fredericks Community Center in Gulfport. "We cannot afford it." She said the ride to Jackson is free and anyone who wants to reserve a seat can call her at 324-4028. "That's exactly what they should do. Come and voice their opposition," said Leonard Bentz, chairman and Southern District commissioner of the Public Service Commission. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in the courtroom on the first floor of the Woolfolk State Office Building at 501 N. West St., Jackson. Those who want to comment but can't make it to Jackson can call his office at 1-800-356-6429, said Bentz, or email him at southern.district@psc.state.ms.us. St. Martin and representatives from the Sierra Club, Steps Coalition and other groups said they want a PSC hearing to be held in South Mississippi, where people who are affected by the rate hike can speak. "This will have a profound impact on the low-income people in particular," said Beverly Davis with the Sierra Club and 12 Mile South Coalition. "We have a lot of people that are stressed now," said Patricia Harvey with American Association of Retired Persons. "I don't know if small businesses can survive this," said Steve Leonard, a retired business owner from Stone County. Ruth Story with the Gulfport NAACP said her main concern is for the disabled, elderly, poor and all who are on fixed incomes who may not be able to pay to heat and cool their homes. "We just think it's terribly unfair," she said. The PSC meetings are held in Jackson and this doesn't just affect people in South Mississippi, Bentz said. Mississippi Power said it will request up to a 25 percent rate hike over seven years to pay for the new power plant. The Sierra Club says rates could rise more than 50 percent. "We've made zero decisions on what's going to take place," Bentz said. The PSC can vote on the proposed increase at Tuesday's meeting or at a later date, he said. http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=27770006 |