Utility weighs 1.8 billion-dollar plant

MISSISSIPPI - A proposed $1.8 billion coal plant in Kemper County could give Mississippi Power Co. enough electricity to power up to 100,000 houses in south Mississippi once completed in 2013.

Mississippi Power wants financial assistance from the state and Kemper County, though company president and CEO Anthony Topazi said he did not yet know how much would be needed.

The plant is one of several options the Gulfport-based utility is considering to meet expected growth. It would produce 700 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power 100,000 houses.

The plant also would provide 260 full-time jobs once completed, Topazi said. Almost 1,000 workers would be needed to build the plant.

"The south Mississippi economy is growing despite what Hurricane Katrina did to us," Topazi said. "Our forecast for energy needs is actually greater today than it was forecasted before Katrina."

Mississippi Power serves 23 counties in southeastern parts of the state.

Mississippi Power received a $133 million tax credit from the federal government recently to build at the Kemper County site, which is in east Mississippi near the Alabama border. No specific location was given.

Within 12 months, the utility would decide whether to power homes and businesses with coal or nuclear power.

"At the end of the day, I'm extremely optimistic that this is going to be the option that we choose," Topazi said.

Though a decision has not been made, Gov. Haley Barbour is optimistic the plant will be built.

"Americans want energy independence," said Barbour, who indicated to the The Clarion-Ledger editorial board that plans for the plant were final. "Mississippi, in my vision, can play a role in that and be an energy-reliable state in the process."

At a news conference later, Barbour said the federal tax credit granted for the Kemper County site was the "least expensive and best way for Mississippi to increase the amount of electricity available to us."

Mississippi Power is the latest utility to look at alternative sources of energy. Entergy Mississippi wants to add to its nuclear power plant in Port Gibson. Colorado-based Rentech might build a coal plant in Natchez.

The proposal would have to be approved by the Public Service Commission after a series of public hearings.

Central District Public Service Commissioner Nielsen Cochran said customers will benefit with Entergy Mississippi and Mississippi Power looking at alternatives to natural gas for generating electricity. Natural gas prices continue to rise.

"You can't just stick your head in the sand," he said. "You've got to plan ahead."

Topazi called coal the most abundant fuel supply in America. Coal is "critical to the security of this country if in fact we are going to lessen our reliance on foreign sources of fuel," he said.

The Kemper County plant would process lignite coal into power for south Mississippi with minimal pollution, Topazi said.

The coal is not burned in a furnace during the process but instead is heated to produce a gas. Energy from the hot gas generates the power.

Ash remaining from the coal can be used in other products, such as cement, company officials said.

Topazi said any area that is strip mined would be reforested.

Mississippi Power is in talks with North American Coal Corp., which owns the Red Hills mine in Ackerman.

The mine produces lignite coal.

Officials with North American Coal could not be reached for comment.