The Mississippi Public Service Commission approved a small rate hike for Mississippi Power and is close to approving another large solar project in north Mississippi.
The PSC also gave Mississippi Power permission Tuesday to replenish its reserve intended to pay for storm damage to its infrastructure. The company will replenish its reserve with a rate increase of 96 cents per month for a 1,000 kilowatt per hour customer.
This will generate revenue of $8.25 million annually and will be used to replenish the property damage reserve until it reaches a target balance of $75 million.
The commission issued an order for a hearing, to be convened by Northern District Commissioner Brandon Presley, to decide on the fate of the 100-megawatt solar facility to be built in DeSoto County that will be owned by California-based Clearway Energy.
Wildflower Solar, LLC. will build and operate the facility, which will open in 2022 and feed its electricity to the regional transmission organization called the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) for an unspecified out-of-state customer.
The facility requires a $90 million capital investment and will create 300 construction jobs and three permanent jobs.
Some of the solar projects in north Mississippi approved by the commission have their electrical output allocated to Facebook, Google and the city of Knoxville, among others.
Commissioners also approved a request by Entergy to modernize its transmission infrastructure in Franklin County. The company will spend $13.8 million to expand a substation and other upgrades in the surrounding area.
The three commissioners also approved an order asking for more data from MISO as the PSC investigates whether Entergy should continue its membership in the regional transmission organization. The commission in the order said the non-profit RTO’s responses to PSC questions contained deficiencies that will be addressed via data requests.
The PSC also approved an amendment to the original deal between Entergy and Nissan’s Canton factory.
