Gulfport, Miss. – Mississippi Power today filed with the Mississippi Public Service Commission a seven-year rate plan beginning in 2014 that will govern the cost recovery of the Kemper County energy facility through 2020.

The filing was made in accordance with the Jan. 24 settlement reached by the company and MPSC. The rate plan, if approved, will result in a 2-percent decrease in average retail base rates in 2014. 

If the recent January 2013 filings, along with today’s filing and an anticipated filing for Kemper financing bonds are all approved by the MPSC, the total increase to customers for company operational costs, Kemper project costs, and Kemper financing bonds is projected to be an average of 20 percent. No further rate impacts are anticipated under the plan for the Kemper project through 2020.

"I am very pleased that we have been able to work with MPSC to accomplish what our customers need to lower the cost of the Kemper project,” said Ed Day, president and CEO, Mississippi Power. “Special-interest naysayers, such as the Sierra Club, have questioned our state's ability to move forward with advanced infrastructure investment, but the actions of our state leaders demonstrate that Mississippi will be an energy innovator and leader.

“We realize there is never a good time for a rate increase and we have worked hard to keep customers’ cost for electricity as low as possible while planning for the future," said Day. “A diverse portfolio of Mississippi lignite along with coal and natural gas should result in price stability and energy security for our customers, thus creating economic growth and jobs for our state.”

The Kemper County energy facility will provide electricity to customers with state-of-the art technology, use Mississippi resources and reduce our environmental footprint for generations to come. The project is scheduled to begin operation in May 2014.

Mississippi Power, a Southern Company subsidiary, serves approximately 186,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties with rates below the national average.

###

Certain information contained in this release is forward-looking information based on current expectations and plans that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements concerning recovery of financing costs associated with the Kemper integrated coal gasification combined cycle facility (“Kemper IGCC”), customer rates, outcome of pending regulatory proceedings, job creation, economic growth and completion of construction of the Kemper IGCC.  Mississippi Power cautions that there are certain factors that can cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information that has been provided. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is not a guarantee of future performance and is subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of Mississippi Power; accordingly, there can be no assurance that such suggested results will be realized. The following factors, in addition to those discussed in Mississippi Power’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, and subsequent securities filings, could cause actual results to differ materially from management expectations as suggested by such forward-looking information: the impact of recent and future federal and state regulatory changes, as well as changes in application of existing laws and regulations; current and future litigation, regulatory investigations, proceedings, or inquiries; available sources and costs of fuels; ability to control costs and avoid cost overruns during the development and construction of facilities, which includes projects involving facility designs that have not been finalized or previously constructed; advances in technology; state and federal rate regulations and the impact of pending and future rate cases and negotiations, including rate actions relating to fuel and other cost recovery mechanisms; regulatory approvals and actions related to the Kemper IGCC, including Mississippi Public Service Commission (“PSC”) approvals, potential U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantees, the South Mississippi Electric Power Association purchase decision, satisfaction of requirements to utilize investment tax credits and grants, and the outcome of any further proceedings regarding the PSC’s issuance of the certificate of public convenience and necessity; and the ability of counterparties of Mississippi Power to make payments as and when due and to perform as required. Mississippi Power expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking information.