The Mississippi Public Service Commission Friday denied Mississippi Power Co.'s request for a rate
increase to help pay for a power generating plant.

Southern District Commissioner Leonard Bentz says he doesn't want to grant a rate increase until the state Supreme Court rules on litigation surrounding the $2.76 billion coal-fired plant in
Kemper County.

The denial likely means Mississippi Power will get none of the $58.6 million it had requested for 2012 to pay debt on the plant's construction.

Filings with the PSC show that the average residential customer's bill would've increased $20 a month.

Average bills for the company's 185,000 customers would've been 15.7 percent higher over six months. On a yearly basis, bills would've risen 7.8 percent.