PSC hearing to consider Great River utility service, rate increases
Photo: Richard Stone III with the Mississippi Public Service Commission answers questions during a recent DeSoto County Board of Supervisors meeting. (Courtesy photo)
A public hearing with the Mississippi Public Service Commission is being held in Jackson on Tuesday, Dec. 3 that will center on concerns of utility customers not pleased with their service as the utility is asking for a rate increase.
The utility is Great River Utilities, based in Dallas, Texas, and their service area includes a handful of subdivisions in DeSoto County that have seen their bills dramatically rise. Meanwhile, questions about service have upset customers getting higher bills.
Richard Stone III from the Public Service Commission spoke with the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors at a recent meeting about the upcoming hearing.
Public comments will be taken on Tuesday, Dec. 3, followed by an evidentiary hearing the following morning, at the PSC hearing room in the Woolfolk State Office Building in Jackson.
One of the affected subdivisions in DeSoto County is Blue Lake Springs, in the Lake Cormorant area, which is in Supervisor Ray Denison’s district. Denison said the subdivision was served by a system that Great River purchased.
“They were used to paying anywhere from $17-$26 a month,” Denison said. “Great River bought the system out and started sending them bills that increased to $69-$72. Residents are telling me that in the winter time when the kudzu dies off, you can see lines that are exposed. Some may be broken and some may not be making it to the lagoon if any of it is making it to the lagoon.”
Denison wants to meet with representatives from Great River and see how the system works and why the rate increases have so dramatically increased. He hopes to learn some of those answers at the public hearing.
The supervisor said residents also want to know specifics about Great River’s oversight of the system, noting the lagoon serving the subdivision at times if dry, indicating some of the system may not be making it to the lagoon.
He added he would present complaints from residents not able to attend in person who are affected by the issue to the Public Service Commissioners when the public hearing is held.
Following is a link to the Hearing Notice: https://www.psc.ms.gov/…/GreatRiverHearing12032024.pdf…
Those who cannot attend can still participate in the process through the Commission’s intervention process. The motion to intervene allows for customers of Great River to officially state their opinion on their service, for public record. Anyone who has a significant interest in the situation can ask to intervene in the case. If you want to intervene, you need to submit a request (called a motion) to the PSC and send it to all relevant parties.
• Where to file the motion:
Motion can be e-filed at: efile.psc@psc.ms.gov or mailed to
Katherine Collier, Executive Secretary, P.O. Box 1174, Jackson, MS 39215-1174
>>Address for Great River: P.O. Box 676422, Dallas, TX, 75267-6422
• The request must include your name, address, and contact information.
• You need to confirm that you’ve sent your request to all involved parties by executing and attaching to your motion a Certificate of Service, an example of which is included in the sample motion at the link below.
• You have 20 days from when you learn about the case to file your request, but late submissions are allowed.
You can find all documents related to the Great River case here: https://ctsportal.psc.ms.gov/portal/document-search. To find the case, enter “2024” for the year, “UN” for the case type, and “26” for water or “27” for wastewater
Further clarification for this process:
• Sample of a Motion to Intervene at the PSC: https://files.constantcontact.com/…/585435d3-f398-4365…
• Public Utilities Rules of Practice and Procedure: https://www.psc.ms.gov/…/Procedural%20Rules%20Updated…. Look for the section about Interventions on page 31.
