Jackson Free Press

A corporate utility wants to charge private jet expenses to ratepayers, and Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley wants to forbid it.

"Corporate utilities should not be able to pass along the costs of flying private jets to their customers," Presley told the Jackson Free Press. "Mississippi customers shouldn't have to pay for lavish jet-setting by corporations. If they want to fly around, they should pay for it themselves."

Presley proposed the rule after learning prior to the commission's July 7 meeting that commission staff had removed from the PSC docket a $900,000 reimbursement request from Mississippi Power Co. for one year of corporate jet expenses. Presley then trotted out a rule discouraging making such requests in the first place.

"I felt it was time to set a rule that says, 'No corporate jet expenses,'" Presley said. "The only thing we'll pay for is the commercial coach rate, and you've got to justify the trip and the occupant."

Central District Commissioner Lynn Posey and Southern District Commissioner Leonard Bentz agreed to Presley's proposition and set a hearing on the matter for Sept. 8.

Presley said he is eager to hear utility companies' reaction to the proposal.

"They'll probably whine and moan and talk about their poor, pitiful lavish jet that they need customers to pay for, but the bottom line is if they're going to fly around in luxury they need to pay for it and not ask the customers to pay for it," Presley said.

Posey, who agreed to set the hearing, said Presley is making political hay out of a non-issue.

"Contrary to popular belief, we're tight as hell on aircraft travel. We've been tough on these guys. We've made the staff tighten it up some," said Posey, who added that the staff knew to pull the $900,000 request based upon the PSC's stringent policies. "We've been that way for a pretty good little while," he said. "All we're doing is making it formal by putting it on paper."

Posey said that Entergy Mississippi, one of the state's two major power suppliers, does not try to claim reimbursement for private jet travel, leaving only one major company with access to personal jets.

"You're basically talking about Mississippi Power, and I don't know what they're going to object to because it's no more than we've been doing now," he said. "We're not going to allow anything more than what it could cost on a common carrier, but if it doesn't cost any more to fly private than it does on a regular airplane then there's nothing wrong with that. That's the basic philosophy that's always been in place there."

Presley said utility companies should not look for ratepayers to foot the bill for jet travel.

"Some of the best service and rates in this state come from power associations like our rural co-ops like Tombigbee Electric Power Association, and you won't find one of them with a corporate jet."

Mississippi Power spokeswoman Cindy Duvall refused comment, saying the company respected the commission's decision but will address the issue during the September hearing.

Virden Jones, director of MPSC sister agency Mississippi Public Utilities Staff, told the JFP that Mississippi is the only state that does not allow corporate aircraft costs to be inserted into rates.

The JFP filed a request this week for PSC documents detailing the costs of airfare ratepayers have financed over the last five years both for private jet travel and commercial flights. Jones said Mississippi Power Co.--the only state utility company that he said requests air travel reimbursement--had filed that information confidentially with the PSC. Jones said he would need permission from the company to release the information to the public. Jones had no answer at press time.

Previous Comments

ID

164119

Comment

In the words of the prophet Paul: This is, unequivocally, a spending problem brought about by a dramatically inflated view of the proper role of government in a free society.

Author

jbreland

Date

2011-07-21T08:45:42-06:00