Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley held a public forum Oct. 16 to encourage area companies to sign up with the Hire Mississippi program.
About 20 attendees asked questions and talked with Presley about the program.
In 2017, Presley passed the Hire Mississippi rule that requires the state’s largest public utilities to give extra notice, attention, and support for Mississippi businesses looking to bid on public utility projects. Hire Mississippi requires the largest utilities to give notice to each company on their Hire Mississippi Supplier List when any job is available for bid that a Mississippi company is qualified to perform. The program requires each business to sign up and provide certain information.
“Hire Mississippi allows Mississippi businesses to get a bite at the apple and be considered first for contracts that they are qualified to do. If we don’t look out for Mississippi businesses and workers, no one else will,” said Presley.
Since implementing the rule, the PSC’s Hire Mississippi Rule, in-state utility construction contract to Mississippi-based companies has risen by 12.6 percent, representing millions spent with Mississippi-based businesses instead of out of state companies.
Presley added that construction contracts to Mississippi-based contractors have increased to 42.1 percent in the past year, up from 30 percent when the Public Service Commission measured operations and maintenance spending in 2017.
For example, Atmos Energy reported a 95 percent rate of Mississippi projects performed by Mississippi companies, followed by Spire Energy at 50 percent, CenterPoint Energy at 47 percent, Mississippi Power at 36 percent and Entergy at 25 percent.
Additionally, contracts to Mississippi-based businesses from Atmos Energy, CenterPoint Energy and Entergy totaled more than $79.4 million for the preceding year.
The Hire Mississippi Rule, which was authored by Presley, was passed by the Public Service Commission in 2017 and encourages the use of Mississippi contractors for construction projects by the state’s major utility companies.
Under the Hire Mississippi Rule, utilities are required to publish quarterly notices in local newspapers to advertise the opportunity to be on the Hire Mississippi List and must explain to Mississippi contractors the bidding process, qualifications and other procedures for the awarding of contracts. Utility companies must also send notices of bidding opportunities to businesses that have registered on the Hire Mississippi List.
Under each contract where bidding is required, corporate utilities are asked whether Mississippi companies were awarded contracts for each project. In the event an out-of-state firm is selected for a project, the company must explain that decision.
“We have helped many Mississippi businesses with the program and eliminated some problems in Mississippi companies bidding on projects,” said Presley.
He added, “If the state government of Mississippi doesn’t fight for Mississippi businesses, no one else will, Keeping dollars spent by Mississippians on projects in our communities across our state just makes sense. My goal is to look out for Mississippi businesses and Mississippi contractors who want these contracts. These are investments in our local communities, neighbors helping neighbors. There’s no reason why qualified companies in our state should be passed over for this work.”
