Mississippi allows Southern Co to continue building coal plant
March 30 (Reuters) - Mississippi utility regulators on Friday issued a temporary certificate to allow a unit of Southern Co to continue building an $2.8 billion coal-gasification power plant in the state despite a court ruling that overturned the existing certificate issued in 2010.
With only two days meeting notice and no discussion, the Mississippi Public Service Commission voted 2-1 to allow Southern Co's smallest utility, Mississippi Power, to keep building the 582-megawatt integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) power plant in Kemper County, according to the commission order obtained by Reuters.
The order, supported by commissioner chairman Leonard Bentz and commissioner Lynn Posey, stated that the halting the project would lead to "unnecessary costs" that would cause substantial injury to the utility and its customers.
"The commission finds that avoiding unnecessary costs is in the public interest; and that allowing the Kemper Project to proceed at this stage serves the public interest," the order states.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/30/idUKL2E8ETCUG20120330