Mississippi City Spared Loss of Electric Service

“My end goal for this is for citizens of Itta Bena to get a stable, reliable source of power that is affordable, brings benefits to the community and avoids any type of looming crisis like this,” Mr. Presley said.

The possibility of losing electricity alarmed residents, many of whom say they have been doing their best to pay skyrocketing bills amid a pandemic that has made their financial situations even more dire.

“Why should we be having a blackout if we’re paying our utility bills?” Ms. Young said.

She had sent a petition, signed by about 300 residents, and copies of electricity bills, to the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor, urging it to look into the city’s electric department and rates.

Since she moved to Itta Bena with her husband 23 years ago, Birdia Williams’s electricity bill has ballooned. In July, she paid about $600, putting her and her husband in a tight spot financially.

“In a pandemic, that was kind of hard for us,” Ms. Williams said. “We had to kind of choose between getting groceries, paying doctor bills, paying the hospital bills. We had to choose between that and paying the light bill.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/01/us/itta-bena-mississippi-debt.html