ATLANTA (AP) — A former employee is suing to force a Mississippi utility to repay $382 million that the federal government gave to build a failed coal-fueled power plant.
Kelli Williams, a former construction manager for Atlanta-based Southern Co., filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the company and its subsidiary Mississippi Power Co. in 2018.
The Kemper County power plant was supposed to be a world leader in turning soft coal into a gas and burning it to generate power, while removing climate-warming carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
The cost of the plant ballooned and Mississippi Power could never make it run reliably.
For example, she alleged Mississippi Power erected piping without permanent fasteners, knowing the work would have to be redone again later at higher cost, an allegation first aired by The Guardian in 2018.
Persons:
—, Kelli Williams, Williams, ”, Schuyler Baehman, It's, Brett Wingo, Cecil Brown, ” Williams, Haley Barbour, Barbour
Organizations:
ATLANTA, Atlanta, Southern Co, Mississippi Power Co, U.S . Department of Energy, Mississippi Public Service Commission, DOE, Kemper, Mississippi Power, Bills, Mississippi, U.S . Justice Department, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Clarion, . Justice Department, Mississippi Gov, The Guardian
Locations:
Mississippi, Kemper County, Jackson, That’s