More than $377 million in refunds related to Mississippi Power Co.’s Kemper County power plant have been returned to ratepayers, although $3.6 million haven’t been cashed.
Bill Kelly of Topp McWhorter Harvey, a Hattiesburg accounting firm, told the Mississippi Public Service Commission on Thursday that the utility has complied with its refund order.
Refunds were completed by Dec. 4, he said.
Checks that haven’t been cashed are primarily from customers who have closed their accounts and moved away, Kelly said. Customers also had the option of taking a credit against their monthly electric bills.
Kelly said Mississippi Power will hold the refunds that have not been claimed for five years. If the money is not collected, it will be turned over to the unclaimed property unit of the state treasurer’s office.
The $377 million in refunds to Mississippi Power’s 186,000 customers were ordered by the Mississippi Supreme Court when it ruled that portions of rate increases imposed between April 2013 and July 2015 to pay for costs associated with the Kemper County plant were illegal.