PSC expresses disappointment over restraining order

The Mississippi Public Service Commission expressed “profound disappointment” at the Hinds County Circuit Court’s decision to grant a temporary restraining order to the City of Holly Springs, Jan. 7.

The TRO granted the City of Holly Springs resulted in a further delay of a Show-Cause hearing set for Jan. 7 at 10 a.m.

Commissioners Chris Brown, De’Keither A. Stamps, and Wayne Carr said the Show-Cause hearing is believed to be “integral to ensure cooperation from the City of Holly Springs in obtaining information necessary to the investigation. The Commission had set a prior hearing Nov. 7, to investigate the ability of the Holly Springs Utility Department to supply adequately reasonable electric service to its customers. The HSUD has about 12,000 electricity customers spread over Marshall and Benton counties and adjacent areas.

The Commission wanted to work with the City of Holly Springs to resolve the issues contributing to the service disruptions and frequent and prolonged power outages over the last year or more.

“The City has continued to use delay tactics through the court system, to hinder the Commission’s ability to address growing concerns promptly and thoroughly,” the Commissioners wrote in a Jan. 7 press release. “Therefore, the Commission will use every avenue available to seek enforcement and fulfill the oversight duty granted by the Mississippi Legislature in 2024.”

Commissioners said they do not believe the delay caused by the TRO is in the best interest of those suffering in the HSUD service area, despite the best efforts of the Commission to get cooperation from the City of Holly Springs.

The Commission will set the Show-Cause hearing after the 2025 regular Legislative Session in order to expedite the resolution and to avoid further delay tactics and exhaustive legal battles which contribute nothing to providing relief, the Commissioners said. After the open meeting Jan. 7, Brown said “the issue is not and should not be political. Rather it’s about providing services necessary for everyday life. I want the people to know that we will stay the course as a group because we care about you, we will not forget about you, and we will continue to be your voice here at the Mississippi Public Service Commission in its fight for reasonable and adequate service all Mississippians have the right to expect.”

In a response to the events of the day at the PSC and Hinds County Circuit Court, Mayor Sharon Gipson made some remarks after the board of aldermen come out of executive session Tuesday night of Jan. 7.

She said several HSUD employees were served subpoenas to participate in the PSC investigation in the fall of 2024, but that City attorney John Keith Perry Jr. had filed a motion to quash those.

Then the Board of Aldermen retained Blackmon & Blackmon Law Firm in Jackson to represent the city. The firm filed a motion in the Mississippi Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus and stay, but the Supreme Count did not stay the Show-Cause hearing Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. The Supreme Court did not execute an order to dismiss the City’s motion for the stay until late Monday, Jan 6, Gipson said. But the Court said the matter should be filed in Hinds County Circuit Court.

Blackmon & Blackmon filed the new motion with Hinds County Circuit Court for the TRO.

Gipson said she had met with subpoenaed employees several times prior to the Jan. 7 hearing date. But Hinds County did grant the City’s motion for the TRO.

“It’s part of the game that is happening,” Gipson said. “The City of Holly Springs is being treated very differently. This is not the first time this type of matter has happened or the PSC have had a hearing.

“I will say this, that it is politicking at its finest.”

Gipson said the PSC’s intent was that the City not have time to prepare for the hearing.

“The other egregious side of it was that it was going to be on a meeting day, and then in Jackson, Mississippi, and that we were going to have to be there that morning,” Gipson said.

She said the City’s attorneys in Jackson had done their due diligence, “Because this is not just a legal case, this is a political case.”

She said she does not know how long Hinds County’s stay will last.