The Public Utilities Staff was established by the Legislature in 1990. It is an agency completely separate and independent from the Public Service Commission. The Staff's organization consists of the Executive Director, appointed by the Governor from a list of qualified candidates and confirmed by the Senate, and five divisions: Legal; Administrative Services; Water and Sewer; Electric, Gas and Communications; and Economics and Planning. The organizational chart gives the complete staffing structure.
The Staff, by law, represents the broad interests of the State of Mississippi by balancing the respective concerns of the residential, commercial and industrial utility ratepayers and the state and its agencies and departments, as well as the public utilities.
The primary functions of the Staff are investigative and advisory in nature to the Public Service Commission by and through the Executive Director. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Reviewing and investigating contested matters and making recommendations with respect to the reasonableness of rates charged or proposed to be charged by any public utility.
- Reviewing, investigating and making recommendations with respect to services furnished or proposed to be furnished by jurisdictional utilities.
- Making recommendations regarding all Commission proceedings affecting the rates, service or area of any public utility when deemed necessary and in the broad public interest.
Divisions of the Staff