Kemper County officials say taxes derived from Mississippi Power’s Kemper Energy Facility has allowed the county to embark on projects never before imagined.

Kemper County Economic Development Authority Executive Director Craig Hitt and Kemper County Board of Supervisors President Johnny B. Whitsett both said the economic benefit to the county has made for a higher quality of life for its citizens despite Mississippi Power’s repeated struggles to get the facility up and going. County millage rates have fallen by 37 mills since the plant start up.

Mississippi Power has missed the last three deadlines to get the facility up to speed because of issues with the ash removal system in one of the gasifiers. The cost of the facility has risen to more than $7 billion with an additional $35 million added in the last 30 days in an adjustment on the cap cost.

“While integrated operation of the facility’s gasifiers and combustion turbines has continued for periods since late January, the schedule adjustment is needed because of issues experienced with the ash removal system in one of the gasifiers,” Mississippi Power spokesman Jeff Shepard said.

In a press release announcing the latest delay, the company states the Kemper facility has achieved the integrated operation of both gasifiers, including the production of electricity from syngas by both combustion turbines. The project has also captured carbon dioxide and placed it in the CO2 pipeline for use in enhanced oil recovery. Both achievements were accomplished in the past month demonstrating continued progress.

Shepard said the plant has paid approximately $15 million in local taxes to Kemper County.

The power plant is designed to convert lignite coal into a natural gas-like substance called synthesis gas to fuel its electricity-generating turbines while removing 65 percent of the carbon dioxide with its carbon capture system.

“We’re very excited about the operation of the facility is going as it was designed to,” Shepard said.

According to economic statistics from the power plant, the plant has spent $6.09 million among 23 companies in Kemper County and $178.6 million with 129 companies in Lauderdale County. The plant has also partnered with more than 560 Mississippi companies.

Despite the delays, Hitt said Kemper County has reaped the benefits from the facility.

“I’ve been working here 4.5 years and the county’s budget has more than doubled since the plant’s construction.” Hitt said. “Several years ago, we had a budget of $6 million. The budget for this year is $18 million. The plant has made a tremendous difference in revenues and what the county can think about doing.”

The power plant is also directly responsible for a number of new small businesses that have opened near it, including TM’s Snack Shop, Cavco, Air Gas and Hydro Vac.

Cavco, which distributes industrial pipe valves and fittings in Bon Air, Ala., and Lake Charles, La., has a warehouse located four miles south of the plant on Highway 493 in Bailey, and employs a warehouse manager/driver. The company is owned by Randall Hall.

“We opened the warehouse in Bailey just before the plant got started clearing land. It’s a major business for this particular location,” Hall said. “We like the business we get from the plant. Other businesses have opened and closed since the plant started, but we’re a stayer.”

On The Horizon

Hitt said the county is working to develop a proposed new light industrial park, located near where Highway 397 and Highway 16 connect. The county paid approximately $800,000 for the site, which was purchased in 2015, and construction began in in 2016.

“The county has purchased 215 acres that we are working to develop and have contracted with Wayne Engineering Co. of Jackson. We’re working through the process of environmental and wetlands phases of testing. Now we’re focusing on 50 acres of property to soon begin development,” Hitt said. “The development will include retail and recreational sites. Before, we couldn’t have looked at doing something this size.”

Hitt said Kemper Power Plant officials tell him there will be approximately 500 permanent jobs between the mining operation and plant. At the height of construction, there were over 6,000 employees at one point.

“The construction phase of the plant had an impact on our local businesses,” Hitt said. “Now that the construction phase is winding down, a good number of Kemper County citizens have found permanent jobs down. Things are good since our citizens now have money to shop at local retail shops. It’s all good and obviously good for surrounding counties.”

Hitt said a large number of construction workers at the plant lived in Lauderdale and Neshoba counties.

With the arrival of the power plant, Whitsett, the Kemper County Board of Supervisors president, said citizens have found many things are not as expensive as they once were. He said millage rates have fallen from 127 mills to 90 mills.

“Taxes and car tags are lower. Anything we can do to help our millage rate drop helps our citizens,” Whitsett said. “When the power plant opens, we’re hoping we will be able to drop millage rates again. We hope to get it down to 84 mills. And we want to attract some new industry.”

Hitt said it’s a new day in the county.

“We have taken on the slogan of ‘The New Kemper County.’ It’s a new ball game,” Hitt said.

In Lauderdale County

The economic impact from the power plant has also been felt in Lauderdale County in the way of hotel occupancy rates.

In 2013, the county’s hotel occupancy rate peaked at 69.1 percent for the East Mississippi/Meridian Region; in 2014 it was 66.2 percent. In 2015, the rate came in at 61.7 percent, followed by a 61.9 percent showing last year.

Lauderdale County/Visit Meridian Tourism Executive Director Dede Mogollon said the 69.1 percent rate in 2013 was partially attributed to employment at the coal plant. The tourism office was able to use revenue gained from the uptick to encourage people to visit Meridian, thus offsetting losses in revenue from a downturn in the construction industry. 

“Lauderdale County Tourism was able to utilize the increased tax collections to rebrand the tourism department to Visit Meridian, explore additional marketing strategies and establish new tourism attractions in the Civil Rights Trail and Civil War Trail,” Mogollon said. “Due to the investments of these additional tax dollars, Visit Meridian has been able to mitigate the decreased construction employment with increased visitors. This has allowed our hotel tax collections to remain steady over the last four years.”