Jackson Free Press

Voting 2-1 this morning, the Mississippi Public Service Commission agreed to let Mississippi Power Co. continue building a lignite coal plant in Kemper County -- at least for the time being. In 2011, the commission allowed Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta,Ga.-based Southern Co., revise its price tag for the 582-megawatt internal gasification combined cycle plant from $2.44 billion to $2.8 billion without public input.

The Mississippi Sierra Club sued to block the price hike, which would have negatively impacted the utility's rate payers. On March 15, the Mississippi Supreme Court agreed with the Sierra Club and sent the case back to the PSC for review. At this morning's hearing, Northern District Commissioner Brandon Presley dissented from Commissioners Leonard Bentz and Lynn Posey, of the Southern and Central districts, respectively.

Presley's dissent can be read here.