ATLANTA - Kerri Williams, a former construction manager for Atlanta-based Southern Co., filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the company and its subsidiary Mississippi Power Co. in 2018.
On Oct. 30, the whistleblower lawsuit was unsealed.
It alleges that the two firms defrauded the U.S. Department of Energy and state regulators in a failed quest to build the $7.5B Kemper County coal-fueled power plant.
Williams alleges the company lied repeatedly about cost overruns and spiraling delays, enticing DoE to keep delivering subsidy payments and persuading the Mississippi Public Service Commission not to revoke its permission for construction.
The Kemper power plant was supposed to be a world leader in turning soft coal into a gas and burning it to generate power, while removing climate-warming carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
Currently, it operates by burning conventional natural gas.
If Williams wins, the company could be forced to pay triple damages, or more than $1.1B. Williams, as the whistleblower, would be legally entitled to between 15% and 30% of any money. (The AP 10/31/23) Whistleblower says utility should repay $382 million in federal aid given to failed clean coal plant (beaumontenterprise.com)
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