More Money Needed To Complete Kemper Power Plant

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Southern Co. says it will cost at least another $59 million to finish the power plant it’s building in eastern Mississippi’s Kemper County, pushing the total cost above $5.6 billion, and that work now won’t be done until the second half of 2015.

The Atlanta-based parent of Mississippi Power Co. says the additional money will pay for material and labor during the plant’s startup phase. Last month, Southern increased the amount of money for these items by $29 million. Before now, the plant was supposed to be complete in 2015’s second quarter.

The plant and associated lignite coal mine were originally supposed to cost $2.8 billion.

The utility is now on track to absorb $1.65 billion in overruns, as well as $133 million in federal tax credits it’s foregoing.