JACKSON, Miss. -- They are angry about rate hikes, Mississippi Power customers made their way up to the state capital Tuesday to speak against the Kemper County Coal Plant which is now months behind schedule and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget.
 
Here is what a few of those customers had to say.
 
“What I am most unhappy about is the public service commission for not holding the hearings in the area that is impacted by this increase so that the citizens could have some kind of participation. We had to come all the way to Jackson from the coast. That’s not right.”
 
“I don’t understand why we are being saddled with a fee. The people on the coast don’t benefit from it. It’s like being on a poker game without having to off anything, but if the other guy wins, you get to take the money.
 
“We are already higher than Entergy.”
 
“They invested $11 million lobbying to get this paid for. If this is such a great idea, and it’s so necessary then why did they need to spend $11 Million lobbying for it? I just can’t see that. This is very unfair on people with fixed incomes who have planned their retirement in a responsible manner.”
 
“We are looking at a bunch of older people who will be turning their air conditioners off this summer. If you know anything about south Mississippi, you know it gets close to a hundred every day in the summer. It is also very humid. These people can die just sitting in their living room without air conditioning, and they are going to, because they aren’t going to be able to afford to put it on.”
 
“We are talking about a lot of money, but we are also talking about a lot of people, and the people should come first over any amount of money.”
 
Tuesday the Public Service Commission gave Mississippi Power an approval to raise rates by 12-13 percent this year, followed by a 3 percent increase in 2014. Mississippi power wanted to raise rates by 21 percent.