Southern Company (SO)

[Timothy Smith]

Southern Co. (SO -0.1%) subsidiary Mississippi Power says it it still expects the Kemper clean coal power plant will be placed in service during H1 2016 but not by April 19, which means the company would need to return $234M in tax credits to the IRS.

Kemper’s bleeding of cash could continue for some time, as SO would incur $25M-$30M in costs above its project cap for every month that Kemper’s in-service date is delayed beyond March.

The projected cost of the plant now stands at $6.27B vs. the original price tag of $2.4B; Mississippi Power's loss to date above the cost cap imposed by the state's public service commission is $2.12B.