Editing Kemper County, Mississippi (section)

==Electric power plant==
{{Main|Kemper Project}}
In 2010, the [[Mississippi Public Service Commission]] approved the construction of a [[lignite]] [[coal]] plant in Kemper County to be financed by electricity customers in twenty-three southeastern Mississippi counties being served by [[Mississippi Power|Mississippi Power Company]]. It is designed as a model project to use gasification and carbon-capture technologies at this scale.<ref name="Guardian"/>

The plant was strongly opposed by former [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] State Chairman [[Clarke Reed]] of [[Greenville, Mississippi|Greenville]], who favored a less-expensive [[natural gas]]-fueled plant. Reed called the project "...&nbsp;a horrible thing." He said it would be a political issue that could be used against Republicans for years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yallpolitics.com/index.php/yp/post/ms_republican_party_founder_clarke_reed_kemper_plant_totally_foolish/|title=MS Republican founder Clarke Reed: Kemper plant "totally foolish"| date=March 28, 2013|publisher=yallpolitics.com|access-date=May 12, 2014}}</ref>

The Kemper Project was scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2016, more than two years behind schedule. Its cost increased to $6.6 billion—three times original cost estimate.<ref name="Amy2">{{cite news | last = Amy | first = Jeff | title = Kemper Plant May Get More Money From Congress | newspaper = Clarion-Ledger | date = December 17, 2015 | url = http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2015/12/17/congress-send-cash-kemper-plant-budget-deal/77519008/}}</ref><ref name="ABC">{{cite web | title = Southern Co.'s Kemper Power Plant Costs Rise Yet Again | publisher = Atlanta Business Chronicle | date = April 4, 2016 | url = http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2016/04/04/southern-co-s-kemper-power-plant-costs-rise-yet.html}}</ref> {{as of|2017|February}}, the project was still not in service, and the cost had increased to $7.1 billion.<ref>{{cite web | last =  Patel | first = Sonal | title = Kemper IGCC, Delayed Again, May Not Be Economically Viable | publisher = Power | date = February 23, 2017 | url = http://www.powermag.com/kemper-igcc-delayed-again-may-not-be-economically-viable/}}</ref>