A Hinds County Circuit Court temporary restraining order prevented the Mississippi Public Service Commission from holding a scheduled show-cause hearing into utility-quality complaints in the Holly Springs Utility District on Jan. 2025, commissioners said at the commission’s regular meeting.

Commission staff said the commission intended the hearing in docket 2024-AD-37 to compel cooperation from the City of Holly Springs and its utility employees so regulators could review staffing, operational and reliability problems in the district. Counsel informed the commission that a petition from Holly Springs to block the hearing had been granted that morning and that a copy of the court’s temporary restraining order (TRO) was placed in the hearing record.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the Holly Springs matter involves sustained service problems that, according to testimony the commission previously received, generated a disproportionate number of complaints to the Tennessee Valley Authority. Commissioners said their goal was to work with the city and outside utilities to improve reliability for residents of the utility district; they said the TRO frustrated an effort to secure cooperation.

What happened at the meeting
Counsel for the commission asked that the TRO be admitted as an exhibit, and the order was placed on the record. Commissioners outlined that the day’s planned hearing was not intended to produce immediate enforcement action but to coordinate cooperation and to compel access to utility employees and records so the commission could investigate and help remedy operational deficiencies.

Commissioners’ response
Commissioner Carr said the commission’s goal was to help resolve problems and encouraged the city to participate. Commissioner Stamps said denying the commission access to meet with utility personnel at the eleventh hour “is stopping us from helping.” A commissioner noted that TVA testimony and other evidence suggested that, among many systems in the TVA Valley, the Holly Springs system accounted for a large share of complaints.

Next steps
Commissioners said they will “stay the course” and continue to press Holly Springs to engage, and that the commission will pursue remedies and coordination with utilities and third parties willing to provide assistance. The commission did not hold the show-cause hearing while the TRO remains in effect; legal counsel placed the TRO in the record as an exhibit for the docket.

Ending
Commissioners urged the city of Holly Springs to work with the commission “to help the people of Holly Springs Utility District” and said they will seek to reconvene the hearing or otherwise pursue the investigation once the temporary restraining order is resolved.