The Jones County Economic Development Authority Board of Director’s unanimously voted to provide a letter of support for Mississippi Power Company’s Kemper County Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Project and passed a resolution of support for the State Port in Gulfport at it’s November board meeting Tuesday.

“Both of them will result in economic development for the State of Mississippi, jobs for the people of our state and benefits for Jones County businesses, and residents,” said Mitch Stennett, President of EDA of Jones County.

The letter of support of Mississippi Power's (IGCC) Project, states that the board believes this project will “provide many benefits to our community, our state, existing industry and our region in order for Mississippi to remain competitive in attracting economic development opportunities.”

The project is expected to mitigate the rising cost impacts on power bills because of fuel price increases. According to Dorsey, “the proposal begins to get us away from the price volatility associated with natural gas and over to a stable, low-priced fuel — Mississippi lignite.”

The board noted that more than half of the typical power bill is now made up of the expense the company incurs for fuel - natural gas and coal. “Natural gas prices have always been extremely volatile, swinging between $13 per thousand cubic feet and $3 per thousand cubic feet during the same 12-month period recently,” the letter states. “No matter what Mississippi Power does to reduce the cost of doing business and thereby keep power bills low, it will never be able to control the impact that world markets have on commodity fuels like coal and natural gas.”

The board unanimously agreed that given the abundance of affordable lignite in Mississippi, it makes sense for Mississippi Power to develop new technologies that produce clean, affordable electricity from this under-utilized fuel source. Board members stated that they believe by mining lignite and producing a synthesis gas in Mississippi Power’s IGCC technology, power bills for all customers will be stabilized, providing a measure of security and reducing our dependency on coal and natural gas.

In the resolution in support of the “State Port at Gulfport,” the board said the restoration and redevelopment of the Port at Gulfport is essential to the continued economic recovery and development of the entire State from the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina.

EDA is supporting the port because the “Board of Commissioners for the Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport has adopted a concept that focuses on restoration and redevelopment of the Port facilities in such a way as to maintain and protect investment by existing customers at the Port; facilitate and maximize the future growth of Port operations through private investment; and at the same time, seeks to minimize community displacement, disruption and intrusion caused by future storms.”

Board members said the restoration and redevelopment of the Port facilities would allow and accommodate future growth of Port facilities which could bring new and better jobs, a higher quality of life, and business and economic development opportunities across Mississippi, including Jones County.