Electric Cooperative Backs Out Of Buying Power From Kemper Plant

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – The entity that procures power for many Mississippi electric cooperatives says it is pulling out of a deal to buy 15 percent of the $6.2 billion Kemper County power plant.

South Mississippi Electric Power Association spokeswoman Sara Peterson says SMEPA’s board voted Wednesday to end pursuit of an ownership interest. That after the association’s staff did a study showing that electricity from Kemper would cost more than previously planned because of rising construction costs.

The action blows a hole in Mississippi Power’s financing plan for the plant, known officially as Plant Ratcliffe.

SMEPA’s move comes days after the unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. had filed new rate plans with the state to pay for the share of the plant that would be shouldered by Mississippi Power’s own 186,000 customers.

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