Mississippi PSC approves energy dockets including Mississippi Power ECO rider and Belmont municipal gas changes

The Mississippi Public Service Commission approved a series of energy items on April 14, 2026, including Mississippi Power’s annual environmental compliance (ECO) rider, changes to the Town of Belmont’s municipal gas tariff, a one-year extension of Spire’s asset-management agreement with Symmetry, and Mississippi Power’s 2026 jurisdictional cost-of-service study.

Staff advised the commission that Mississippi Power’s 2025 ECO expenditures exceeded the company’s projections — $76.7 million actual versus $73.5 million projected, a $3.2 million variance largely driven by outage work at Plant Daniel unit 2 — and presented the company’s 2026 ECO retail revenue requirement of about $76.4 million. "Mississippi Power is requesting a revenue requirement increase of approximately 2.5 million," staff said. Staff found immaterial formula errors of roughly $7,000 that the company agreed to correct and recommended approval of the filing. Staff said the net effect on a 1,000-kilowatt-hour residential bill would be a decrease of about four cents per month due to changes in loss multipliers.

Commissioners also approved a joint stipulation with the Town of Belmont (Docket 2025 UN98) to raise the town’s monthly minimum gas bill. Under the stipulation the minimum bill increases by $7 — from $3 to $10 per month — and staff recommended several fee changes while advising against adjusting certain volumetric rates until the town’s corrected PGA (purchase gas adjustment) billing can be evaluated. Staff told the commission that Belmont had been underbilling its PGA because the town’s billing system incorrectly applied a 500-cubic-foot minimum discount to PGA volumes; the error was corrected in January 2026. Staff estimated the minimum-bill change would generate about $176,000 per year for Belmont’s gas system and recommended that the town file annual PGA summary statements and audited financial statements, so staff can monitor whether additional rate action is required.

On Spire’s request to extend its asset-management agreement with Symmetry (Docket 2026 UA2), staff recommended approval of a one-year transaction confirmation that preserves existing cost-sharing terms and asked that the company pursue an RFP process for any subsequent extension. "Staff does not object to the one-year extension of the AMA, but staff believes that an RFP process should be followed for the next AMA extension," staff said.

Separately, staff presented Mississippi Power’s 2026 jurisdictional cost-of-service study and an outside reviewer recommended approval. Staff said updated allocators from the study would have an approximate $6 million effect on a separate PEP filing and roughly $400,000 on ECO filings compared with prior allocators; staff recommended the commission accept the study as filed.

All motions to approve the items were moved, seconded, and adopted by voice vote; the transcript records no opposing votes. Commission discussion during the docket included clarifying questions about customer-class impacts — staff said small commercial customers would see roughly a $0.62 monthly decrease on the ECO filing while heavy industrial customers could see increases averaging around $271.

What happens next: the approved orders will be issued by the commission consistent with staff recommendations. Staff also requested that Belmont provide annual reports on PGA activity and audited financial statements for review.