MERIDIAN, Miss. — Regulators have approved of plans for Mississippi Power Co. to buy electricity from a solar facility to be built in eastern Mississippi.
The Mississippi Public Service Commission on Thursday voted for the $100 million solar farm to be built in Lauderdale County by Silicon Ranch of Nashville, Tenn.
A unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co., Mississippi Power will buy all the power from the facility for 25 years. The 570,000 solar panels will have the capacity to supply 53 megawatts of electricity at peak, enough to power about 8,000 homes. The plant is projected to begin operations by December 2019.
Mississippi Power said its 160-megawatt solar capacity will be the largest of any Mississippi utility.