A third strike against Hood's allegations regarding Entergy

Yesterday the Mississippi Public Service Commission adopted and certified to the Legislature an independent audit it had commissioned of Entergy Mississippi. This is the third indepdent audit of Entergy in two years and once again - surely to the chagrin of Attorney General Jim Hood's contingency fee contract lawyers - it says Entergy is clean and proper. Entergy issued this release:

Once again, an independent auditing expert, hired by the Mississippi Public Service Commission, has found no improper charges by Entergy Mississippi, Inc. to customers. This is the third MPSC-commissioned, independent audit in two years to reach this conclusion.

McFadden Consulting Group Inc. filed the audit report with the MPSC on Tuesday, March 30, which certified it shortly after. The audit report, which examined Entergy Mississippi’s operations, found that the processes and procedures utilized by Entergy in purchasing power help ensure that energy is procured for customers at the lowest practical costs.

McFadden’s finding is consistent with another Commission-ordered audit report of Entergy Mississippi’s fuel procurement policies and fuel adjustment clause. In that operations report, Vantage Consulting found that Entergy purchases energy, fuel, transmission rights and access, and other related products at the lowest reasonable cost.

The third Commission-ordered audit, by Horne LLP, an accounting and auditing firm, was a financial audit of the company’s energy cost recovery mechanism. Horne’s audit report confirms that Entergy Mississippi has properly accounted for fuel and purchased energy costs.

McFadden’s report points out that Entergy is one of the largest and most complex utilities in the United States, and that the review and analysis was thorough.

Three independent audits; three audits announcing Entergy is proper; three strikes against Attorney General Jim Hood's allegations.

Thompson Wants to Protect Power

We're usually critical of U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson, but last week in a column for the Washington, D.C. newspaper Roll Call, he made some good points. He said:

Electric power is not only America’s economic lifeblood, but an essential element of our nation’s security. Businesses, chemical plants, banks, refineries, hospitals, water systems, grocery stores and military facilities all rely on electricity to operate. Our electric grid, in turn, increasingly relies on computer-based operating systems. Herein lies a unique homeland security challenge — how to protect the electric grid from failing, as a result of either intentional or unintentional events.

Today’s electric grid is very similar to the system that existed in the early part of the 20th century, with one critical difference: Computers are in charge. Our grid is highly dependent on computer-based systems. These systems are used to monitor and control sensitive processes and physical functions. When they were originally created, they were closed to the outside. To increase efficiency and save money, operators began connecting these systems to corporate networks and the Internet. Unfortunately, these connections also expose these critical systems to potential attacks online. Specifically, our reliance on electric power and the vulnerability of our interconnected system makes the electric grid a prime target for an adversary who seeks to cause catastrophic harm to our country. In fact, there is some evidence, according to a recently released publication, that cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system. These malicious programs could do anything from briefly interrupting power delivery to destroying our nation’s large electric generating units.

Representative Thompson, as Chairman of Homeland Security, knows the threats to our electrical grid from foreign enemies. Such an attack not only turns out the lights, but it turns out the economy. It would also turn off Respond Mississippi...and we can't have that. We're glad to see he recognizes the importance of delivered power to our economy and hope he continues his efforts to ensure our electrical grid remains secure.

Energyville

Chevron and The Economist Group have teamed up to create an online game called Energyville where you can choose energy sources to power your own city and look at the results.

Basically, the key is to follow the Barbour energy policy: "all of the above." Solar, wind, and hydro help you meet the needed power levels, but you can't really succeed economically without nuclear, coal, natural gas, and oil. Just do the simple numbers: to get the amount of power modern consumers need, you need some major baseload generation.

Note for those on the Mississippi Public Service Commission: coal is very helpful to meet the economic needs of the city.