July 2015
The Economic Impact of a Utility Rate Increase
in 23 Mississippi Counties
Mississippi State Research Team
Judith Phillips, M.B.A., ABD, Research Analyst
Kayla Lee-Hopkins, M.P.P.A.
John Harper, M.P.P.A.
Dallas Breen, Ph.D., Assistant Director
Philip (Eddie) French, Ph.D., Director
Mississippi State University Graduate Students
The Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development at Mississippi State University employs Graduate
Research Assistants enrolled at Mississippi State University to provide assistance to the Institute to conduct research and to
work with Institute staff to conduct a broad scope of work. Funding received by the Stennis Institute is used to provide
graduate students with tuition and graduate student stipends, thereby enabling them to pursue graduate level course work at
Mississippi State University. These students make a significant and important contribution to all research conducted by the
Stennis Institute. John Harper is from Braxton, Mississippi and graduated from Mendenhall High School in 2007. He earned an associate’s degree in Business Administration from Copiah‐Lincoln Community College before transferring to Mississippi State University where he received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. John began his work as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Stennis Institute upon entering the master’s degree program at Mississippi State University. He completed his master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration program in 2013. John is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in Higher Education Leadership to prepare for a career in administration at a college or university. Kayla Lee‐Hopkins is originally from Brandon, MS and graduated from Northwest Rankin High school in 2007. She completed a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Mississippi State University and graduated summa cum laude. Kayla has been employed as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Stennis Institute since entering the master’s degree program at Mississippi State University. Previously, she had been a student intern for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Jackson, Mississippi. Kayla completed her master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration in 2013. Kayla is currently working on completing a doctoral degree at Mississippi State University and hopes to continue conducting research related to community and economic development at the state and local level upon completion of her Ph.D. THE SCOPE OF WORK PRESENTED IN THIS STUDY IS PROVIDED FOR THE BENEFIT OF DECISION‐MAKERS IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI – NO FUNDING WAS PROVIDED FROM ANY SOURCE EXTERNAL TO MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY. The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Table of Contents Issue Statement ............................................................................................................................................ 5 The Context of Hurricane Katrina, the Great Recession, and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster .................. 9 Examination of the Impact of Electric Power Rate Increases in Twenty‐Three Mississippi Counties ........ 19 Business Establishments ......................................................................................................................... 19 Employment ............................................................................................................................................ 25 Total Annual Wages ................................................................................................................................ 31 Individual Income Tax Returns ................................................................................................................ 39 Average Annual Pay ................................................................................................................................ 45 Review of the Findings ................................................................................................................................ 51 Appendix A: Additional Reference Maps .................................................................................................... 53 Appendix B: Comparing Retail Trade Sector Employment Change in 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties ..................................................................................................................................................... LXI Appendix C: Data Used in this Study ...................................................................................................... LXXIV Index of Tables Table 1: Deepwater Horizon Economic and Property Damage Claims ........................................................................ 13 Table 2: Business Establishments and Employment in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson Counties as Compared to the State of Mississippi ...................................................................................................................................................... 17 Table 3: 15 Mississippi Counties with Greatest Increase in Business Establishments 2012 to 2014 .......................... 19 Table 4: 15 Mississippi Counties with the Highest Percentage Increase in Business Establishments 2012 to 2014 ... 21 Table 5: Number of Counties that Exhibited an Increase or Decline in the Number of Business Establishments over the Period from 2012 to 2014 ..................................................................................................................................... 21 Table 6: Comparison of Counties with Employment Growth 2012 to 2014 ................................................................ 26 Table 7: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Greatest Increase in Total Employment from 2012 to 2014 .............. 26 Table 8: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Greatest Percentage Rate Decline in Employment 2012 to 2014 ...... 27 Table 9: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Greatest Percentage Rate Increase in Employment 2012 to 2014 .... 27 Table 10: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Highest Increase in Total Annual Wages from 2012 to 2014 ........... 34 Table 11: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Greatest Decline in Total Annual Wages from 2012 to 2014 ........... 34 Table 12: The 19 Mississippi Counties with the Greatest Percentage Decrease in Total Annual Wages from 2012 to 2014 ............................................................................................................................................................................. 35 Table 13: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Highest Percentage Rate of Increase in Total Annual Wages from 2012 to 2014 ................................................................................................................................................................ 35 Table 14: Comparison of the Difference in the Percentage of Mississippi Power Counties and Non‐Mississippi Power Counties Experiencing Growth in Total Annual Wages from 2012 to 2014 ..................................................... 36 Table 15: Number of In‐State Individual Income Tax Returns Filed 2006 through 2014 ............................................ 41 Table 16: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Lowest Increase or a Decline in Average Annual Pay 2012 to 2014 . 47 Table 17: The 15 Counties with the Greatest Increase in Average Annual Pay from 2012 to 2014 ............................ 47 1 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Table 18: Encapsulation of Data .................................................................................................................................. 50 Table 19: Employment in the Retail Trade Sector 2012 to 2014 .............................................................................. LXVI Table 20: Change in Retail Trade Sector Employment in 23 Mississippi Power Counties 2012 to 2014 ................. LXVII Table 21: Annual Percentage Change in Retail Trade Sector Employment for 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties 2001 through 2014 .................................................................................................................................... LXXI Index of Figures Figure 1: State of Mississippi Total Annual Employment All Industries 2004 through 2014 ......................................... 8 Figure 2: State of Mississippi Percent Change in Annual Employment from Prior Year 2004 through 2014 ................ 8 Figure 3: Total Business Establishments in the State of Mississippi 2004 through 2014 ............................................ 12 Figure 4: Percent Growth in Mississippi Business Establishments from Prior Year ..................................................... 12 Figure 5: Employment in the Three Coastal Counties Impacted by Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 2004 through 2014 ............................................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 6: Business Establishments in the Three Coastal Counties Impacted by Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 2004 through 2014 ............................................................................................................................ 14 Figure 7: Employment in Three Coast Counties for Selected Industry Sectors that are Major Employers 2004 through 2014 ............................................................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 8: Total Business Establishments in Three Coastal Mississippi Counties 2004 through 2014 .......................... 18 Figure 9: Change in the Number of Business Establishment 2004 to 2014 ................................................................. 22 Figure 10: Percent Change in the Number of Business Establishments 2004 through 2014 ...................................... 22 Figure 11: Employment 2004 through 2014 ................................................................................................................ 24 Figure 12: Mississippi Employment Post‐Recession .................................................................................................... 25 Figure 13: Total Wages (in $1,000) and Percent Change in Total Wages 2004 through 2014 .................................... 30 Figure 14: Percent Share of Annual Wages Earned in Mississippi Power and Non‐Mississippi Power Counties 2004 to 2014 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 31 Figure 15: Mississippi Individual Income Tax Returns 2006 to 2014 ........................................................................... 38 Figure 16: Total Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed in the State of Mississippi 2006 through 2014 ...... 39 Figure 17: Comparison of Mississippi Power Company Counties and Non‐Mississippi Power Company Counties, Number of Personal Income Tax Returns Filed as a Percent of Total In‐State Returns Filed 2006 through 2014 ...... 40 Figure 18: Out‐of‐State Individual Income Tax Returns as a Percent of Total Returns 2006 through 2014 ............... 41 Figure 19: Statewide Change in Average Annual Pay 2004 to 2014 ............................................................................ 45 Figure 20: Change in Average Annual Pay in 23 Mississippi Power Counties and Non‐Mississippi Power Counties 2004 through 2014 ...................................................................................................................................................... 46 Figure 21: Retail Trade Sector Employment in Mississippi Power Counties 2001 to 2014 ....................................... LXII Figure 22: Percent Change in Retail Trade Sector Employment 2001 to 2014 ......................................................... LXIV Figure 23: Employment in the Retail Trade Sector in Mississippi Power Counties expressed as a Percent of Total Retail Trade Sector Employment Statewide 2001 to 2014 ........................................................................................ LXV Figure 24: Mississippi Power Counties with Retail Trade Sector Employment of 350 or Less in 2014 .................. LXVIII Figure 25: Mississippi Power Counties with Retail Trade Sector Employment between 520 and 980 in 2014 ...... LXVIII Figure 26: Mississippi Power Company Counties with Retail Trade Sector Employment between 1,180 and 2,830 in 2014 ........................................................................................................................................................................... LXX Figure 27: Mississippi Power Company Counties with Retail Trade Sector Employment between 4,050 and 11,130 in 2014 ........................................................................................................................................................................... LXX 2 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Index of Maps Map 1: Hurricane Katrina Housing Damage, excerpted from Stennis Institute Report 200‐1230, July 2007 ............. 10 Map 2: Change in the Number of Business Establishments by County 2012 to 2014 ................................................. 20 Map 3: Change in Employment for Mississippi Counties 2012 to 2014 ...................................................................... 28 Map 4: Change in Total Annual Wages 2012 to 2014 .................................................................................................. 32 Map 5: Change in Average Annual Pay from 2012 to 2014 by County ........................................................................ 44 Map 6: Number of Business Establishments by County 2914 ..................................................................................... LV Map 7: Employment by County 2014 ......................................................................................................................... LVI Map 8: Total Annual Wages by County 2014 ............................................................................................................ LVII Map 9: Number of Personal Income Tax Returns Filed in 2014 by County .............................................................. LVIII Map 10: Average Annual Pay by County 2014 ........................................................................................................... LIX 3 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
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Issue Statement In the spring of 2009, members of the Mississippi Legislature and the Board of Supervisors of Kemper County requested the Stennis Institute to conduct a brief analysis of the impact of a proposed coal gasification facility in Kemper County (Kemper IGCC), Mississippi; the focus of this review was the specific impact of Kemper IGCC on the economy of Kemper County. The 2009 Stennis report projected that the investment (anticipated to be approximately $1.8 billion) in Kemper IGCC would generate approximately 536 direct, indirect, and induced full‐time equivalent jobs upon commencement of start‐
up, but that the majority of the economic benefit of this investment would accrue to areas outside of Kemper County due to the relatively undeveloped business, housing, and retail infrastructure that existed within the county. The 2008 Baseload Act (MS Code §77‐3‐105) allowed the Mississippi Public Service Commission to consider Mississippi Power Company’s request for a rate‐increase to pay for a portion of pre‐completion expenditures as used and useful during the course of construction, even if the facility was not yet in service. The Institute’s 2009 study did not take into account the potential economic impact that future rate increases might have in the 23 counties of Mississippi that are served by Mississippi Power Company. In 2010, the Mississippi Public Service Commission (PSC) issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity to authorize the acquisition, construction, and operation of an integrated coal gasification combined cycle electric generating plant in Kemper County, Mississippi (Kemper IGCC) by Mississippi Power Company. On December 17, 2010, headlines in the Meridian Star read “Mississippi Power Breaks Ground on Kemper County IGCC Power Plant.” Since 2010, there have been multiple intervening court actions and hearings regarding rate increases associated with Kemper IGCC and the decisions made by the Mississippi Public Service Commission. A full discussion of these legal actions is not the focus of this study; the following brief outline of important decisions by the Mississippi Public Service Commission and the courts is provided for context. On January 24, 2013, the Mississippi Power Company entered into a settlement agreement with the Mississippi Public Service Commission to establish the process for resolving matters regarding cost recovery for the Kemper IGCC plant. Pursuant to the terms of the settlement agreement, on March 5, 2013, the Mississippi Public Service Commission voted to approve a retail rate increase of 15 percent effective March 19, 2013 and an increase of an additional 3 percent to become effective January 1, 2014 (MPSC Rate Order). These rate increases were to be recorded as a regulatory liability for the purposes of mitigating customer rate increases after the Kemper IGCC plant was placed in service. The rate increase was anticipated to generate approximately $98 million in 2013 and approximately $156 million annually beginning in 2014. On March 21, 2013, a legal challenge to the 2013 MPSC Rate Order was filed with the Mississippi Supreme Court. On February 12, 2015, the Mississippi Supreme Court nullified the 2013 rate increase that had been approved by the Mississippi Public Service Commission and ordered the refund of rate increases back to customers. In June 11, 2015, “the Mississippi Supreme Court denied a request by 5 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Mississippi Power Company and the Mississippi Public Service Commission to reconsider its February (2015) ruling that invalidated the rate increases…”1 Since the initial 2009 Stennis Institute study on the economic impact of Kemper IGCC on Kemper County, the completion of the plant has been delayed and the rate increases in the 23 Mississippi counties that are served by Mississippi Power Company have become immersed in legal challenges and become the subject of controversy. Specifically, there have been a multitude of reports in the media to indicate that the rate increase associated with the cost of constructing Kemper IGCC has had a significant detrimental impact on the 23 Mississippi counties that are served by Mississippi Power Company and that these rate increases may have resulted in the loss of up to 13,000 jobs; this subject matter was not examined in the 2009 Stennis Institute study, primarily because the amount of the rate increases was unknown at the time of the Institute’s study and because the focus of the 2009 study was on Kemper County. Therefore, this study is designed to retrospectively examine the potential economic impact that the rate increase by Mississippi Power Company may have had on 23 counties in Mississippi over the period from 2012 (prior to the rate increase) through the end of 2014 when the full impact of the rate increase would be exhibited in economic data. The Public Policy Research Group at the Stennis Institute conducts studies and provides quantitative analysis for input into the policy decision‐making process in the state of Mississippi at the request of the Mississippi Legislature and other elected leaders; the Policy Research Group does not provide policy recommendations. This study takes no position on the decision of the Mississippi Public Service Commission to approve the Mississippi Power Company rate increase, nor does it take a position on the subsequent decision by the Mississippi Supreme Court to mandate the refund of these rate increases. The purpose of this study is to examine an issue that was not addressed in the Stennis Institute’s 2009 study of what is currently known as Kemper IGCC. The specific purpose of this study is to examine change in major economic indicators —business formation, employment, total annual wages, and average annual pay — and to describe causal relationships that may exist between changes in these major economic indicators and the utility rate increase by Mississippi Power Company in the 23 Mississippi counties served by Mississippi Power Company. The Stennis Institute takes no policy position and makes no policy recommendations related to the analysis and findings presented in this study. 1 Miss. Supreme Court refuse to reconsider Kemper ruling, The Clarion‐Ledger, Clay Chandler June 11, 2015. http://www.clarionledger.com/story/business/2015/06/11/court‐refuses‐kemper‐rehearing/71076552/. Retrieved 06‐13‐
2015. 6 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
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Figure 1: State of Mississippi Total Annual Employment All Industries 2004 through 2014 Figure 2: State of Mississippi Percent Change in Annual Employment from Prior Year 2004 through 2014 8 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
The Context of Hurricane Katrina, the Great Recession, and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster The United States’ Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (BLS QCEW) reports data for the total number of employees, the number of business establishments, average weekly wages, and total wages for all counties and states in the U.S.; BLS QCEW data may be further disaggregated by industry sector, the number of establishments based upon the number of employees, and the type of employer, i.e. public (federal, state, or local) and private sector. To examine total employment, the number of total establishments, and total annual wages the Stennis Institute queried the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ QCEW database for “all employees,” “all establishment sizes,” and for “all industries,” by county for the state of Mississippi. Unless otherwise notated, the Institute used total annual average data for each year over the period from 2004 through 2014 from the United States’ Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages to conduct the analysis contained in this report. In 2014, total employment in the state of Mississippi was 1,102,296; of this amount, employment totaling 1,060,756 was defined by county (96.2 percent of total employment) and employment of 41,540 was undefined by county (3.8 percent of total employment). Over the ten year period from 2004 through 2014, total employment in the state of Mississippi increased by 982; this slow increase in employment may generally be attributed to the continuing effects of the Great Recession. The Great Recession was triggered by a subprime mortgage crisis, the bursting of an $8 trillion dollar housing bubble, and the collapse of U.S. mortgage‐backed securities that resulted in the U.S. financial crisis. The Great Recession officially lasted from December 2007 to June 2009; because the BLS QCEW data is reported for January through December for each calendar year, 2008 is the year which begins to capture the effect of the Great Recession. From 2008 to 2009, the U.S. lost approximately 8.4 million jobs or 6.1 percent of total payroll employment; by comparison, during the recession of 1981, job loss was only 3.1 percent. The increase in unemployment associated with the Great Recession was the largest increase associated with any U.S. recession in 70 years. Since the technical end of the Great Recession in 2009, U.S. economic recovery and growth has continued to be sluggish and job growth has been insufficient to maintain pace with normal population growth. Job shortages, unemployment and underemployment, and the absence of growth‐producing business investment has resulted in falling incomes and rising poverty rates in the United States. Over the period from 2007 to 2009, the net worth of U.S. households fell by approximately 22 percent in the United States. As recently as May 2015, economists have downgraded annual U.S. economic growth forecasts and the U.S. Department of Labor estimated that 10.8 percent of the U.S. labor force was working part‐time because they could not find full‐time jobs. Following the onset of the Great Recession, total employment in Mississippi decreased by 5,993 from 2007 to 2008; this employment decline continued with the loss of 49,956 jobs from 2008 to 2009, and a subsequent employment decrease of 6,521 from 2009 to 2010. Over the 3 year period from 2008 through 2010, total employment in the state of Mississippi declined by 60,716; of this amount, employment loss of 56,952 is delineated by specific counties and the balance is undefined by county in the BLS QCEW data. Within the context of the effects of the Great Recession, the economy of the state of Mississippi was also impacted by Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in Mississippi on August 29, 2005 and the April 20, 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and subsequent oil spill; 9 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Map 1: Hurricane Katrina Housing Damage, excerpted from Stennis Institute Report 200‐1230, July 2007 10 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
these two disasters introduce additional confounding economic impacts exogenous to those of the Great Recession when examining the economy of the state of Mississippi, and this is specifically true for the economies of the counties in southeast Mississippi. A 2006 study conducted by the Stennis Institute for the Mississippi Legislature found that there were 220,384 housing units in the state of Mississippi that were damaged by Katrina; of these, 157,914 damaged units were owner‐occupied and 62,470 were renter‐occupied. In Mississippi, 32.7 percent (51,641 homeowners) of all homeowners who experienced Katrina damage to their homes were uninsured and were not eligible for participation in the initial rounds of Katrina‐related Homeowner Grant Programs. A subsequent 2007 study2 conducted by the Stennis Institute found that two years after Hurricane Katrina, the six coastal counties of Mississippi (Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River, Stone, and George) were continuing to struggle to recover from the impact of Katrina; although expenditures related to the rebuilding and recovery of coastal Mississippi temporarily inflated employment and gross sales in the surviving business establishments, issues associated with the increasing costs of building materials, more stringent building and elevation codes, increased insurance costs, labor shortages, and escalating labor costs continued to hamper the recovery of Mississippi’s coastal counties. This study also predicted that the softening of the U.S. housing market and the significant glut in the condominium market across the southern coastal areas of the U.S. might lead to a collapse of both the condominium market in the coastal areas and an unprecedented default in the sub‐prime mortgage market, further exacerbating the challenges associated with rebuilding the coastal counties of Mississippi. The Stennis Institute’s July 2007 study of the six coastal counties of Mississippi indicated an economy struggling to recover within the shadow of a portending recession; within five months, the $8 trillion dollar housing bubble burst, precipitating the Great Recession of 2007. A subsequent 2008 Stennis Institute study of the continuing impact of Katrina found that as of March 2008, an estimated 41,806 persons remained displaced from the three coastal counties of Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson. Just as the coastal counties began to exhibit signs of increasing recovery from Katrina, the Great Recession hit the U.S. and global economy. As Mississippi struggled to recover from the economic devastation of the Great Recession and the coastal counties of Mississippi continued to struggle to recover from the impact of both Hurricane Katrina and the Great Recession, the April 20, 2010 explosion and fires aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and subsequent oil spill wrought further damage to these struggling economies. Due to the severe impact of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on specific areas of Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson counties, causation for damage claimants was presumed in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson Counties Economic Loss Zones that stretched from the coastline north to U.S. Highway 90; in Economic Loss Zones that stretched from U.S. Highway 90 north to Interstate 10, claimants had to demonstrate proof of their loss. The range of economic damage from the Deepwater Horizon included a vast array of financial loss, including:3 
damages suffered by commercial fisherman, seafood crews, seafood vessel owners, seafood retailers (including restaurants)/processors/wholesalers/distributors, and owners of charter boats 2 Phillips, J., Collins, B., and A. Fielder (2007). The Economic Impact of Hurricane Katrina: Coastal Mississippi Two Years Later. Report 200‐1230; July 2007. 3 Public Statistics for the Deepwater Horizon Economic and Property Damages Settlement, June 30, 2015.
11 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Figure 3: Total Business Establishments in the State of Mississippi 2004 through 2014 Figure 4: Percent Growth in Mississippi Business Establishments from Prior Year 12 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties

damages to coastal real property or boat slips, including losses suffered by sellers of residential property who sold their properties at lower prices as a result of the Deepwater Horizon incident  damages to individuals and entities who owned wetlands real property  damages and economic loss to individuals, businesses, start‐up businesses, or failed businesses The deadline for filing Economic and Property Damages was June 8, 2015; although Patrick Juneau, the Claims Administrator for the Deepwater Horizon Economic and Property Damages Settlement began issuing payments on July 31, 2012, the process for recovering economic and property damages has been delayed due to multiple legal and court actions. As shown in Table 1, below, there were approximately 370,899 total economic and property damage claims filed in the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, and Texas; of these, 44,178 were filed for damages to businesses and individuals in the state of Mississippi. In the five states, 91,778 claimants had received settlement payments totaling $5,396,293,826; this indicates that approximately 75 percent of the total 370,899 claimants had not received payments for economic or property damages as of June 2015.4 Table 1: Deepwater Horizon Economic and Property Damage Claims In addition to the economic impact of Deepwater Horizon Economic & Property Damage Claims as of June 30, 2015
the Deepwater Horizon, Percent of Form Total Claim Type
Form Begun the subsequent closure of Claims
Submitted 86,985 square miles of Seafood Compensation Program 410
24,847 25,257
6.80%
coastal waters of Individual Economic Loss 8,333
59,639 67,972
18.30%
Alabama, Mississippi, and Individual Periodic Vendor or 255
376
631
0.20%
Festival Vendor Economic Loss Louisiana to fishing and 2,322
128,572 130,894
35.30%
the federal moratoria on Business Economic Loss Start‐Up Business Economic Loss 291
7,095
7,386
2.00%
off‐shore drilling in the Failed Business Economic Loss 277
5,034
5,311
1.40%
Gulf of Mexico issued on Coastal Real Property 862
40,914 41,776
11.30%
April 30, 2010 further Wetlands Real Property 309
25,205 25,514
6.90%
Real Property Sales 244
2,033
2,277
0.60%
contributed to business Subsistence 642
52,662 53,304
14.40%
interruption, loss of VoO Charter Payment 84
8,883
8,967
2.40%
profits, and declines in Vessel Physical Damage 80
1,530
1,610
0.40%
employment and related Total 14,109
356,790 370,899
100.00%
earnings in fishing and Source: Deepwater Horizon Claims Center, Economic & Property Damage Claims as of June 30, 2015
related industries, in the oil and gas industry, and in industry sectors that provide support services to the oil and gas industry. Extant research on the economic impact of the Deepwater Horizon and its lasting impact on the coastal counties of Mississippi provides an array of mixed findings; some studies indicate that the decline in tourism and related spending was offset by spending associated with oil spill recovery workers; other studies attribute all negative economic effects to the impact of the Deepwater Horizon while neglecting the confounding effects of the Great Recession or Hurricane Katrina on the coastal counties of Mississippi. A study conducted by Oxford Economics found that employment in the Accommodation Sector declined by five percent as a result of the adverse impact of the oil spill on tourism and reported 4
Deepwater Horizon Claims Center, Economic & Property Damage Claims as of June 30, 2015 http://deepwaterhorizoneconomicsettlement.com/reporting. Retrieved 07‐01‐2015. 13 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
that average wages in the coastal counties of Mississippi experienced a 1.5 percent decline in 2010.5 A 2010 study conducted by the University of Southern Mississippi found that gaming revenue and casino hotels experienced no negative impact from the oil spill, but that direct and indirect revenue losses in the tourism and restaurant sector were approximately $119.4 million in the four months of May through August in 2010 and that revenue for non‐casino hotels in May 2010 had declined by 50 percent Figure 5: Employment in the Three Coastal Counties Impacted by Hurricane Katrina as compared to the same period and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 2004 through 2014 in 2009, equating to a $26.9 million loss in direct revenue.6 A comprehensive study of the differential impacts of Hurricane Katrina, the Great Recession, and the Deepwater Horizon disaster is beyond the scope and purpose of this report; however, because Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson counties are contained within the service area of the Mississippi Power Company, the compounding effects of Hurricane Katrina, the Great Recession, the Deepwater Horizon, moratoriums on fishing and offshore drilling, and delays Figure 6: Business Establishments in the Three Coastal Counties Impacted by in the payment of Deepwater Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 2004 through 2014 Horizon Business and Economic Loss claims must be considered when analyzing employment, business growth, and income within the counties served by Mississippi 5 Oxford Economics (21 July 2010). Potential Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill on Tourism (PDF). Retrieved 06‐30‐2015. 6 Butler, D., Sayre, E. (14 June 2010). Economic Impact of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on South Mississippi: Initial Findings on Revenue. Retrieved 06‐30‐2015. 14 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Power Company. Although there are a multitude of macro‐ and micro economic factors that impact economic change, the relatively simple disaggregation of the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the three coastal counties of Mississippi can be achieved by examining the change in employment and the change in the number of business establishments over the two‐year period from 2004 (pre‐Katrina) to 2006 (post‐Katrina). The lingering impact of this disaster through 2014 in terms of population migration, increased construction costs associated with more stringent building codes and steeply escalated property insurance costs has not been the subject of any recent studies; the interrelated effects of the Great Recession and the Deepwater Horizon disaster are far more complex and no attempt is made in the following section of this study to disaggregate the economic effects of these events. From 2004 (pre‐Katrina) to 2006 (post‐Katrina), Hancock and Harrison counties lost a total of 308 business establishments and employment in these two counties declined by 12,167 (Figure 5 and Figure 6 on page 14); the number of business establishments and employment in Jackson County appear to have been relatively unaffected by Katrina. As previously discussed, the coastal counties of Mississippi were still in recovery from the impact of Katrina when the Great Recession commenced at the end of 2007; however, the data indicate that employment and business growth was well on the way to recovery when the recession hit. By 2007, employment in Hancock and Jackson counties exceeded pre‐Katrina levels in 2004 and 2005; by 2007, employment in Harrison County was almost at the level it was in 2005, but still remained almost four percent lower than it had been in 2004 (Figure 5, page 14). Employment in Harrison County has never returned to its pre‐Katrina level of 89,631 in 2004. In terms of the number of business establishments, a slightly different pattern emerges for each of the coastal counties: 


In Jackson County, the number of business establishments continued to increase over the period from 2004 through 2007; this increase continued through 2008 until 2009 when the number of business establishments began to decline. This indicates that Jackson County’s economy remained relatively immune from the impact of Katrina and during the early years of the recession until 2009. Over the period from 2009 through 2012, the number of business establishments in Jackson County decreased by 110 establishments (a decline of approximately 4.4 percent); during this time period, employment in Jackson County declined by 2,884, a decrease of approximately 5.7 percent (Table 2 page 17). In Hancock County, the number of business establishments was exhibiting recovery from the impact of Katrina prior to the advent of the recession and remained resilient to recessionary impacts through 2009. From 2004 to 2006, Hancock County lost 87 business establishments (a decrease of 10.6 percent); from 2006 to 2007, the number of establishments increased by 51 and then increased again over the period from 2007 to 2008 by 54 establishments (Figure 5 and Figure 6 on page 14). Over the period from 2009 through 2012, the number of business establishments in Hancock County declined by 42 establishments and related employment decreased by 412 (Table 2, page 17). In Harrison County, the number of business establishments declined by 221 from 2004 to 2006; by 2007, the number of business establishments was only 1.4 percent lower than prior to Hurricane Katrina. Over the one year period from 2006 to 2007, Harrison County had recaptured 6,882 jobs, but employment in 2007 was still 3,508 lower than it had been prior to Katrina in 2004 (Figure 5, page 14). Business establishments in Harrison County remained resilient to the Great Depression through 2008 and 2009; however, from 2009 through 2012, there was a decline of 184 business 15 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Figure 7: Employment in Three Coast Counties for Selected Industry Sectors that are Major Employers 2004 through 2014 16 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
establishments (Table 2, below). Although the number of business establishments in Harrison County continued to increase through 2008 and 2009, employment decreased by approximately 3 percent from 2008 to 2009, followed by a decrease of approximately 2 percent from 2009 to 2010. The previous paragraphs demonstrate the variation in the effect that disasters and the Great Recession have had on each of the three coastal county’s economy at the local level, with Jackson County exhibiting a striking resilience to the impact of Hurricane Katrina while exhibiting greater susceptibility to the impact of the Great Recession, as demonstrated by a higher percentage rate of decline in the number of business establishments and a greater percentage rate decline in employment when compared to either Hancock or Harrison counties (Table 2, below); this held true for the period from 2009 to 2012 and for the entire period from 2008 through 2014. Pertinent to the subject of this study, and the impact of the Mississippi Power Company rate increase that was implemented in 2013 and continued through 2014, a comparison of the change in the number of business establishments and employment in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson counties from 2012 to 2014 provides no evidence to Table 2: Business Establishments and Employment in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson Counties as Compared to the State of Mississippi State of Mississippi Employment and Business Establishments for Selected Periods from 2004 to 2014
Focus on the Three Coastal Counties Impacted by Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster
Percent Percent Percent Change Change Change Change Change Change Change 2012 to 2008 to 2009 to 2004 to 2008 to 2009 to 2004 to 2014
2014
2012
2006
2014
2012
2006
Number of Business Establishments
Hancock Business Establishments
‐87
‐10.57%
‐42
‐4.99%
3
0.36%
44
Harrison County Business ‐221
‐4.87%
‐184
‐4.04%
‐129
‐2.82%
77
Establishments
Jackson County Business 89
3.87%
‐110
‐4.44%
‐101
‐4.06%
14
Establishments
Total for Hancock, Harrison, and ‐219
‐2.86%
‐336
‐4.26%
‐227
‐2.87%
135
Jackson Counties
Balance for State of Mississippi Excluding Establishments Undefined 1,693
3.15%
‐1,447
‐2.59%
‐1,193
‐2.12%
655
by County and Excluding Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson Counties
Total for State (all Counties) Including Establishments Undefined by County
Total Employment for All Industries
Hancock County Employment
Harrison County Employment
Jackson County Employment
Total Employment Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Counties
Balance of Mississippi Excluding Employment Undefined by County and Excluding Employment in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson Counties
Total for State of Mississippi (all Counties) including Employment Undefined by County
Percent Change 2012 to 2014
5.50%
1.76%
0.59%
1.79%
1.20%
2,257
3.41%
‐1,356
‐1.93%
727
1.03%
2,400
3.49%
‐1,777
‐10,390
1,386
‐13.19%
‐11.59%
2.95%
‐412
‐1,062
‐2,884
‐3.00%
‐1.27%
‐5.67%
‐640
‐3,508
‐2,505
‐4.68%
‐4.07%
‐4.84%
‐288
156
1,247
‐2.16%
0.19%
2.60%
‐10,781
‐7.18%
‐4,358
‐2.94%
‐6,653
‐4.39%
1,115
0.78%
21,854
2.96%
11,894
1.65%
‐12,791
‐1.70%
9,413
1.29%
16,561
1.50%
4,606
0.43%
‐28,803
‐2.55%
16,547
1.52%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages: Annual Averages for All Industries, Total Covered Employment, All Establishment Sizes
17 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
to support a finding that these rate increases detrimentally impacted economic growth in these three counties. As shown in Figure 6 on page 14 and in Figure 8, below, an increase in the number of business establishments in all three of the coastal counties occurred during the period from 2012 to 2013 and then continued through 2014; over the period, the percentage rate of change in the number of business establishments was positive across all three counties although the rate of increase varied by county from a high of 5.5 percent in Hancock County to a low of 0.59 percent in Jackson County (Table 2, page 17). The average percentage rate of increase in the number of business establishments in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson counties was 1.79 percent over the period from 2012 to 2014; this exceeded the average percentage rate of growth of 1.20 percent in the balance of the other 79 counties in the state of Mississippi (excluding the change in the number of business establishments which are undefined by county in the BLS QCEW data).7 From 2012 to 2014, the total number of business establishments increased by 790 across all 82 counties; over the same period, the number of business establishments in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson counties increased by 135; this represented approximately 17 percent of the total statewide increase in business establishments (defined by county of location) from 2012 to 2014. The increase in the number of business establishments in the three coastal counties of Mississippi over the period from 2012 to 2014 may be an early indicator of recovery from the impact of the Great Recession, but would not support the finding of a potential loss that might be associated with a rate increase by Mississippi Power Company. Figure 8: Total Business Establishments in Three Coastal Mississippi Counties 2004 through 2014 7 Author’s note: As shown in Figure 3 on page 12, the number of business establishments that are undefined as to the county where they are located increased from 4,810 to 8,427 (from 7.3 percent to 11.8 percent of total business establishments) and the percentage rate of “undefined” establishments increased at a significantly higher rate (23.6 percent) when compared to the growth rate of business establishments (1.27 percent) that were defined by county in the BLS QCEW data. Although these “undefined” establishments may be distributed approximately equivalent to the percentage rate of total business establishments located in each county expressed as a percentage rate of the total number of business establishments in the state and adjustments could have been made to the data to reflect this possible distribution of “undefined” establishments, doing so would have skewed the findings for the increase in the number of establishments in Harrison and Jackson counties upwards because these two counties represent a significantly higher percentage (7.09 percent and 3.80 percent, respectively) of the total business establishments in the state. Because the true distribution of these undefined business establishments by county cannot be accurately verified, business establishments undefined by county are reported separately in this study. 18 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Examination of the Impact of Electric Power Rate Increases in Twenty‐Three Mississippi Counties To examine the potential impact of the Mississippi Power Company rate increase on employment, business formation, and wages, the Stennis Institute used data the from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (BLS QCEW) as previously described. Unless otherwise cited, the discussion in the following section of this report is sourced from BLS QCEW data for the period from 2004 through 2014. To conduct this analysis, the BLS QCEW data for annual total employment, the number of business establishments, and total annual wages for the twenty‐three counties that are served by Mississippi Power Company and were subject to a 15 percent rate increase that went into effect in April of 2013 and a 3 percent rate increase that went into effect in January of 2014 was disaggregated from the data for the remaining 59 counties in the state of Mississippi; the 23 counties served by Mississippi Power Company are defined as “Mississippi Power (Company) Counties” and the 59 counties that are served by other utility companies are defined as “Non‐Mississippi Power (Company) Counties.” For purposes of analysis, only data that is defined by county is included in the examination of employment, business formation, and total annual wages that is described in the following section of this study; Figure 1 on page 8 and Figure 3 on page 12 provide data for total employment and the number of business establishments in the state of Mississippi that were “undefined” by county in the state of Mississippi over the period from 2004 through 2012. Business Establishments Table 3: 15 Mississippi Counties with Greatest Over the period from 2012 to 2014, 44 counties (53 percent Increase in Business Establishments 2012 to 2014
of the 82 counties) in the state of Mississippi exhibited an increase in the number of business establishments, two Change counties exhibited no change in the number of establishments Rank County 2012 2014 2012 to and the balance of the counties experienced a decline in the 2014
number of business establishments. Over the period from 2012 to 2014, the mean change in the number of business 1 Rankin
3,582 3,790
208
2 Madison 2,995 3,183
188
establishments in the state of Mississippi across all 82 3 Desoto
2,534 2,707
173
counties was 10 with a standard deviation of ± 39 and the 4
Harrison
4,374
4,451
77
median change was 1. Over the period from 2012 to 2014, 5 Lafayette 1,104 1,162
58
Pike and Hinds counties experienced the greatest decline in 6
Lamar
1,304
1,355
51
the number of establishments, with a loss of 28 and 27 7 Hancock
800 844
44
business establishments, respectively. Although the loss of 27 8 Pontotoc
476 506
30
establishments in Hinds County represented a decrease of 9 Lee
2,412 2,438
26
only 0.45 percent in the total number of establishments, the 10 Alcorn
805 828
23
loss of 28 establishments in Pike County represented a decline 11 Coahoma
655 673
18
of 2.7 percent in the number of establishments – illustrating 12 Yazoo
448 465
17
that even relatively small declines in the number of 13 Tippah
341 356
15
establishments can represent a significant percentage 14 Jackson
2,370 2,384
14
decrease in smaller local economies. Among the 44 counties 15 Clay
374 385
11
Source: U.S. Bureau Labor Statistics QCEW
that exhibited an increase in the number of business establishments over the period from 2012 to 2014, Rankin and Madison counties exhibited the greatest increase in the number of business establishments, with an increase of 208 and 188 establishments, 19 10
-5
-4
-1
-17
-28
Pike
-1
Lincoln
9
Copiah
-27
Hinds
17
4
11
10
Simpson
208
Rankin
188
Madison
Walthall
-10
1
Marion
30
-16
Newton
51
44
Hancock
-22
Pearl River
Lamar
-7
77
Harrison
Stone
Perry
Kemper
-8
Noxubee
14
Jackson
10
George
5
Greene
11
Wayne
-8
Clarke
-7
Lauderdale
2
0
Lowndes
-11
Monroe
Itawamba
8
-2.0%
Amite
1.5%
Franklin
-3.4%
-2.1%
2.1%
Lamar
3.9%
5.5%
Hancock
-2.7%
Pearl River
0.2%
Marion
-0.4%
Jones
-2.0%
Jasper
2.0%
Newton
0.9%
1.4%
Kemper
-3.4%
Noxubee
Lowndes
0.0%
-1.7%
Monroe
0.6%
Jackson
2.9%
George
3.5%
Greene
2.7%
Wayne
-3.3%
Clarke
-0.4%
20 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
1.8%
Harrison
-2.0%
Stone
0.2% Perry
-4.1%
2.3%
Itawamba
Lauderdale
Winston
-4.3%
Neshoba
Forrest
0.5%
Smith
-0.6%
Scott
1.3%
Leake
2.9%
0.3%
Tishomingo
2.3%
Prentiss
Lee
1.4% Oktibbeha
Choctaw
1.1%
4.9%
Webster
3.0%
7.0% Covington
2.3%
Simpson
5.8%
Rankin
Pike -4.3%
Walthall
-2.7%
-0.1%
Lincoln
2.0%
Copiah
-0.5%
Hinds
6.3%
Madison
Attala
-3.1%
Lawrence Jeff Davis
Yazoo
3.8%
0.3%
Holmes
3.1%
-4.6%
Montgomery
Clay
-2.1%
Alcorn
2.9%
1.1%
Chickasaw
6.3%
Pontotoc
2.3%
Union
Benton 4.4%
-2.1% Tippah
-2.8% Calhoun
3.7%
-1.3%
Statewide Percentage Change 2012 to 2014
Mean Increase: 0.3%
Median Increase: 0.2%
Standard Deviation: 3.3%
Greatest Loss of Establishments: -12.5%
Greatest Increase of Establishments: 7.0%
-0.6%
Wilkinson
-1.8%
Claiborne
Jefferson
1.1%
Adams
®
Warren
-1.2%
Issaquena
-12.5%
-6.7%
5.3%
Lafayette
0.0%
Marshall
Yalobusha
Grenada
Leflore Carroll
-2.0%
-1.4%
Tallahatchie
Humphreys
Sharkey
-1.4%
-2.4%
Sunflower
0.1%
Bolivar
Quitman
-1.8%
Panola
Tate
DeSoto
6.8%
1.4% -3.0%
Tunica
2.7% -1.3%
Coahoma
Washington
4.4% - 7.0%
0.3% - 3.9%
0.1% - 0.3%
-12.5% - 0.0%
Percent Change in
Number of
Establishments
Percent Change in the Number of Business Establishments
by County 2012 to 2014
Map 2: Change in the Number of Business Establishments by County 2012 to 2014 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
-6
3
Forrest
-6
Jones
1
10
-5
Smith
7
10
Winston
Neshoba
5
11
Lee
26
1
Tishomingo
11
Prentiss
23 Alcorn
Oktibbeha
Clay
-8
Chickasaw
Jasper
-3
Scott
4
Leake
-12
Attala
2Choctaw
9
Webster
11
Union
15
Tippah
Pontotoc
11
-2
Benton
Calhoun
Covington
Lawrence Jeff Davis
Yazoo
1
Holmes
4
-11
Montgomery
-6
58
Lafayette
0
Marshall
Yalobusha
-7 Grenada
Leflore Carroll
-3
Tallahatchie
Statewide 2012 to 2014
Total Increase: 790 Establishments
Mean Increase: 10 Establishments
Median Increase: 1 Establishment
Standard Deviation: 39 Establishments
Greatest Loss of Establishments: 29
Greatest Increase of Establishments: 208
Amite
-3
Wilkinson
2
Franklin
-3
Jefferson
Claiborne
-20
-15
-2
Quitman
Humphreys
Warren
-2
-14
Sunflower
Sharkey
-18
Washington
1
Bolivar
Issaquena
44 - 208
Adams
®
18
Coahoma
-12
1 - 10
11 - 40
Panola
-11
Tate
-28 - 0
4
Tunica
173
DeSoto
Change in the Number of Business Establishments
by County 2012 to 2014
Change in
Number of
Establishments
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
respectively. Among the fifteen counties in the state of Mississippi that exhibited the highest increase in the number of business establishments over the period from 2012 to 2014, four were Mississippi Power Company Counties (Table 3, page 19). From Table 4: 15 Mississippi Counties with the Highest Percentage 2012 to 2014, the total increase in the number of Increase in Business Establishments 2012 to 2014 business establishments in the state of Mississippi was 790; this represented an increase Percent Change of 1.27 percent in the number of business Change Rank
County
2012 2014 2012 to establishments. The mean percentage increase 2012 to 2014
in the number of business establishments 2014
statewide from 2012 to 2014 was 0.3 percent 1 Jefferson Davis
157
168
11 7.01%
with a standard deviation of ± 3.3 percent; the 2 Desoto
2,534 2,707
173 6.83%
median percentage increase in the number of 3 Pontotoc
476
506
30 6.30%
business establishments was 0.2 percent. The 4 Madison
2,995 3,183
188 6.28%
5 Rankin
3,582 3,790
208 5.81%
two Mississippi counties that experienced the 6
Hancock
800
844
44 5.50%
highest percentage decrease in business 7 Lafayette
1,104 1,162
58 5.25%
establishments from 2012 to 2014 were 8 Webster
183
192
9 4.92%
Issaquena and Humphreys, with a decline of 12.5 9 Tippah
341
356
15 4.40%
percent and 6.7 percent, respectively (Map 2, 10 Lamar
1,304 1,355
51 3.91%
page 20); the two counties that experienced the 11 Yazoo
448
465
17 3.79%
greatest percentage increase in business 12 Calhoun
300
311
11 3.67%
establishments were Jefferson Davis (a 13 Greene
143
148
5 3.50%
14 Carroll
130
134
4 3.08%
Mississippi Power County) and DeSoto, with an 15
Covington
331
341
10
3.02%
increase of 7.01 and 6.83 percent, respectively Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW
(Map 2, page 20). Among the 15 counties in the state of Mississippi that experienced the greatest percentage increase in the number of business establishments from 2012 to 2014, five were Mississippi Power Company counties (Table 4, above). Among the 23 Mississippi Power Counties, 15 counties exhibited an increase in the number of business establishments over the period from 2012 to 2014; this represented 65.2 percent of the Mississippi Power Counties (Table 5, below). Among the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties, 29 counties exhibited an increase in the number of business establishments over the period from 2012 to 2014; this represented 49.2 percent of the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties (Table 5, below). This indicates that a higher percentage of Mississippi Power Counties exhibited an increase in the number of business establishment over the period from 2012 to 2014 as compared to Non‐Mississippi Power Counties. Table 5: Number of Counties that Exhibited an Increase or Decline in the Number of Business Establishments over the Period from 2012 to 2014 Comparison of Growth in the Number of Business Establishments 2012 to 2014
Mississippi Power Counties
Non‐Mississippi Power Counties
Counties with Growth
15 Counties with Growth
Counties with No Growth or Decrease
8 Counties with No Growth or Decrease
Total Counties
23 Total
Percent of Counties with Growth
65.22% Percent of Counties with Growth
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
29
30
59
49.15%
21 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Figure 9: Change in the Number of Business Establishment 2004 to 2014 Figure 10: Percent Change in the Number of Business Establishments 2004 through 2014 22 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Figure 9 and Figure 10 on page 22 provide perspective on the longitudinal change in the number of business establishments in the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties and in the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Company Counties over the period from 2004 through 2014. Over the period from 2008 through 2012, the combined loss in business establishments for the state was 2,210; of these, 933 business establishments were lost in the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties, representing a decrease of 4.5 percent in the number of business establishments and 1,277 business establishments were lost in the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties, representing a decrease of 2.9 percent in the number of business establishment. This indicates that the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties appear to have been more severely impacted over the post‐Great Recession period. Over the period from 2012 to 2014, prior to the Mississippi Power rate increase of 15 percent in 2013 and subsequent rate increase of 3 percent in 2014, the number of business establishments in all Mississippi counties increased by 790 establishments (Figure 9, page 22), representing an increase of 1.27 percent in the number of business establishments over the period. From 2012 to 2014, the number of business establishments in Mississippi Power Counties increased by 190 establishments, representing an increase of 0.96 percent; over the same period, the number of business establishments in Non‐
Mississippi Power Counties increased by 600 establishments, representing an increase of 1.42 percent in the number of business establishments. Within the context of the statewide percentage mean increase of 0.3 percent and standard deviation of ± 3.3 percent in the number of business establishments across the 82 counties and based upon hypothesis testing for a difference between the mean change in the number of business establishments and the mean percentage change in the number of business establishments, no statistically significant difference was found in the growth rate in the number or percentage change in the number of business establishments across the 23 Mississippi Power Counties as compared to the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties. Closer examination of the annual change in the number of business establishments over the period from 2012 to 2014 indicates that from 2012 to 2013, the number of business establishments in the 82 counties of Mississippi increased by 692, representing an increase of 1.12 percent in the number of business establishments in the state. Over this one year period, the number of business establishments in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties increased by 156, an increase of 0.79 percent in the number of business establishments; over the same one‐year period, the number of business establishments in the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties increased by 536 establishments, an increase of 1.27 percent (Figure 9 and Figure 10, page 22). When compared to the statewide increase in business establishments from 2012 to 2013, growth in the number of business establishments slowed statewide over the period from 2013 to 2014; during this period, the number of business establishments statewide increased by 98, representing an increase of 0.16 percent. Over the one‐year period from 2013 to 2014, the number of business establishments in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties increased by 34; this represented an increase of 0.17 percent (Figure 10, page 22). In the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties, the number of business establishments increased by 64 establishments over the period from 2013 to 2014; this represented an increase of 0.15 percent. Although the percentage rate of growth in the number of business establishments in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties exceeded the percent rate of growth in the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties from 2013 to 2014, these differences are not statistically significant. From 2012 to 2013, the growth in the number of business establishments in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties represented 22.5 percent of the total statewide growth in the total number of business establishments and from 2013 to 2014, the growth in 23 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Figure 11: Employment 2004 through 2014 24 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
the number of business establishments in the Mississippi Power Company Counties represented 34.7 percent of the total statewide growth in the number of business establishments statewide. Employment In 2014, total employment in the state of Mississippi was 1,102,296 (Figure 1, page 8); of this amount, employment totaling 1,060,756 (Figure 11, page 24) was identified by county (96.2 percent of total employment) and employment of 41,540 was undefined by county (3.8 percent of total employment). As discussed in prior sections of this report, employment that is not defined and attributed to specific counties in the state of Mississippi cannot be included in the analysis of the impact that rate increases by Mississippi Power Company may have on employment because “undefined” employment cannot be accurately allocated to any specific county (see author’s note on page 17); therefore, the discussion that follows excludes employment that is “undefined” by county. Over the ten year period from 2004 through 2014, total employment in the state of Mississippi increased by 982 (Figure 11, page 24); this represented an increase of 1.2 percent over the 10‐year period. Since 2007, employment in the state of Mississippi has never recovered to pre‐Great Recession levels, declining from 1,092,967 in 2007 to a low of 1,036,015 over the period from 2007 to 2010, representing an employment loss of 55,706 jobs and a decline of 5.1 percent in employment (Figure 12, at right). Starting in 2012, employment statewide began to exhibit a slow recovery from recessionary impacts, increasing by 1.05 percent over the period from 2011 to 2012 and then continuing to increase over the period from 2012 to 2014, but at a rate of less than one percent per year. When employment data for the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties is disaggregated from the employment data for the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Company Counties, a slightly different pattern emerges. Figure 12: Mississippi Employment Post‐Recession From 2009 to 2010, the percentage rate of decline in employment was more severe (‐1.30 percent) in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties than the decline in employment (‐0.35 percent) experienced in the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties; in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties, employment decline continued over the period from 2010 to 2011 (a decrease of ‐0.91 percent) whereas, with an increase of 0.65 percent employment in the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties, these counties began to exhibit signs of recovery (Figure 11, page 24). Employment in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties first began to exhibit early signs of recovery from the recession over the period from 2011 to 2012, with an employment increase of 0.31 percent (an increase of 1,057 jobs), while employment in the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties continued to show employment increases from the prior period with a 1.42 percent increase in employment (an increase of 9,847 jobs) from 2011 to 2012. As shown in Figure 11 on page 24, the slope of the recovery curve for the Mississippi Power Counties is steeper than that of the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties over the period from 2011 to 2012. From 2012 to 2013, employment in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties increased by 1,477 jobs, an increase of 0.43 25 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
percent; over the same period, employment in the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties increased by 4,264 jobs, an increase of 0.61 percent in employment. From 2013 to 2014, employment in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties increased by 1,804 jobs, an increase of 0.52 percent; during the same period, employment in the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties increased by 5,046, an increase of 0.72 percent in employment. Over the period from 2012 (prior to the utility rate increase) to 2014, total employment in the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties increased by 3,281 jobs, an increase of 0.94 percent in employment; over the same period, employment in the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Company Counties increased by 9,310 jobs, an increase of 1.33 percent in employment. The difference of 0.38 percent between the percentage change in employment in the Mississippi Power Counties and the Non‐
Mississippi Power Counties is not statistically significant and does not support a finding that the rate increase in the Mississippi Power Counties caused employment decline. Table 6: Comparison of Counties with Employment Growth 2012 to 2014 Over the period of interest from 2012 to Comparison of Growth in Employment 2012 to 2014
2014, 50 percent of the Mississippi Power Counties
Non‐Mississippi Power Counties
82 counties in the state Counties with Growth
14 Counties with Growth
27
Counties with Decrease
9 Counties with Decrease
32
of Mississippi Total
23
Total
59
experienced an increase Percent of Counties with Growth 60.87% Percent of Counties with Growth 45.76%
in employment; among Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
the 23 Mississippi Power Counties, 60.9 percent of the counties experienced employment growth and among the 59 Non‐
Mississippi Power Counties, 45.8 percent experienced employment growth over the period (Table 6, above). Table 7: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Greatest Increase in Over the period from 2012 to 2014, the change in employment in the 82 counties of Total Employment from 2012 to 2014 Mississippi ranged from a maximum Increase in Employment Employment Employment employment increase of 4,112 in DeSoto 2012
2014
2012 to 2014
County to a decline in employment of 1,499 Rank County
1
DeSoto
47,417
51,529
4,112
in Tunica County. From 2012 to 2014, 2
Madison
46,635
50,039
3,404
DeSoto and Madison counties exhibited the 3
Rankin
55,848
58,805
2,957
greatest increase in employment among the 4
Lafayette
18,952
20,275
1,323
82 counties in the state of Mississippi. 5
Jackson
47,974
49,221
1,247
Among the 15 counties in the state of 6
Forrest
36,604
37,701
1,097
Mississippi that exhibited the greatest 7
Oktibbeha
18,357
19,227
870
increase in employment over the period 8
Pontotoc
11,210
11,830
620
9
Scott
12,534
13,140
606
from 2012 to 2014, there were five 10
George
4,414
4,998
584
Mississippi Power Company Counties; these 11 Kemper
3,244
3,709
465
15 counties experienced a total 12 Grenada
9,753
10,155
402
employment increase of 18,654 jobs over 13 Itawamba
5,697
6,043
346
the period; total net employment for the 14 Lamar
17,590
17,920
330
entire state of Mississippi increased by 15 Lincoln
10,938
11,229
291
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW
12,591 jobs. 26 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Table 8: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Greatest Percentage Rate Over the period from 2012 to 2014, Decline in Employment 2012 to 2014 the percentage rate of change in employment for the 82 counties in Change in Percent Change Employment Employment County
Employment in Employment Mississippi ranged from a maximum 2012
2014
2012 to 2014
2012 to 2014
increase of 14.3 percent in Kemper Calhoun
3,411
3,305
(106)
‐3.11%
County to an employment decline of Lowndes
25,355
24,529
(826)
‐3.26%
Webster
2,060
1,985
(75)
‐3.64%
19.4 percent in Claiborne County. Lawrence
2,526
2,411
(115)
‐4.55%
The statewide mean change in Carroll
1,169
1,106
(63)
‐5.39%
employment at the county level over Clarke
3,149
2,961
(188)
‐5.97%
Quitman
1,238
1,163
(75)
‐6.06%
the period from 2012 to 2014 was Chickasaw
6,015
5,534
(481)
‐8.00%
minus 0.20 percent with a standard Yalobusha
3,246
2,984
(262)
‐8.07%
deviation of ± 5.9 percent; the median Jasper
4,280
3,930
(350)
‐8.18%
Tunica
11,312
9,813
(1,499)
‐13.25%
change in employment was 0.00 Issaquena
242
205
(37)
‐15.29%
percent. Humphreys
Wilkinson
Claiborne
2,785
2,066
4,116
2,326
1,718
3,318
(459)
(348)
(798)
‐16.48%
‐16.84%
‐19.39%
Among the 15 Mississippi counties that experienced the greatest decline Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW
in employment over the period from 2012 to 2014, there were two Mississippi Power Company Counties —Clarke and Jasper — these two counties exhibited a decrease in employment of 5.97 percent and 8.18 percent, respectively (Table 8, above). Among the 15 Mississippi counties Table 9: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Greatest Percentage Rate that experienced the highest Increase in Employment 2012 to 2014 percentage rate of increase in the Change in Percent Change Employment Employment Employment in Employment number of people employed over the County
2012
2014
2012 to 2014
2012 to 2014
period from 2012 to 2014, two Kemper
3,244
3,709
465
14.33%
counties — George and Scott — were George
4,414
4,998
584
13.23%
2,779
3,064
285
10.26%
Mississippi Power Company Counties Tallahatchie
Amite
1,601
1,763
162
10.12%
(Table 9, at right); George County DeSoto
47,417
51,529
4,112
8.67%
experienced the 2nd highest Madison
46,635
50,039
3,404
7.30%
percentage rate of growth in Lafayette
18,952
20,275
1,323
6.98%
5,697
6,043
346
6.07%
employment among the 82 counties in Itawamba
Pontotoc
11,210
11,830
620
5.53%
the state of Mississippi. Although not Rankin
55,848
58,805
2,957
5.29%
pertinent to the focus of this study, it Tishomingo
5,222
5,497
275
5.27%
12,534
13,140
606
4.83%
is interesting to note that as compared Scott
Oktibbeha
18,357
19,227
870
4.74%
to the 82 counties in the state of Tippah
5,646
5,902
256
4.53%
Mississippi, Kemper County —the Yazoo
6,084
6,347
263
4.32%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW
location of Mississippi Power Company’s integrated coal gasification combined cycle electric generating plant (Kemper IGCC) —
experienced the greatest percentage rate of increase in total employment over the period from 2012 to 2014. 27 102
162
Amite
16
Franklin
52
244
Pike
291
Lincoln
-115
Walthall
-76
253
Marion
Stone
Perry
1,247
Jackson
584
George
20
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
156
Harrison
69
1,097
-2
Greene
-116
Wayne
-188
Clarke
28
Lauderdale
465
Kemper
41
Noxubee
Lowndes
-826
237
Monroe
Itawamba
346
10.1%
Amite
1.0%
Franklin
4.0%
-19.4%
1.7%
Pike
2.7%
Lincoln
-0.9%
Copiah
-1.0%
Hinds
-4.6%
-1.9%
-1.3%
Simpson
5.3%
Rankin
7.3%
Madison
Walthall
-2.9%
Leake
Lamar
-2.2%
Hancock
-0.9%
-0.6%
Perry
14.3%
Kemper
1.7%
Noxubee
Lowndes
-3.3%
2.5%
Monroe
2.6%
Jackson
13.2%
George
1.0%
Greene
-2.3%
Wayne
-6.0%
Clarke
0.1%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
0.2%
Harrison
1.8%
Stone
3.0%
-0.1%
0.5%
Jones
-8.2%
Jasper
0.3%
Newton
-1.9%
6.1%
Itawamba
Lauderdale
Winston
4.7%
Oktibbeha
5.3%
Tishomingo
1.1%
Prentiss
Lee
-1.3%
Clay
-8.0%
Alcorn
2.1%
-0.4%
Chickasaw
5.5%
Neshoba
Forrest
1.9%
Covington
0.4%
2.0%
Smith
4.8%
Scott
-0.8%
2.2%
Union
3.3%
Choctaw
Pearl River
3.4%
Marion
Attala
4.5%
Tippah
Pontotoc
-3.6%
Webster
-3.1%
-1.8%
Lawrence Jeff Davis
Yazoo
4.3%
-2.1%
Holmes
-2.1%
Montgomery
-5.4%
Statewide Percentage Change 2012 to 2014
Greatest Decrease: -19.4%
Greatest Increase: 14.3%
Mean Change: -0.2%
Median Change: 0.0%
Standard Deviation: 5.9%
-16.8%
Wilkinson
-1.1%
Claiborne
Jefferson
0.9%
Adams
®
-15.3%
Warren
-1.2%
Issaquena
-16.5%
4.1%
-8.1%
Benton
-0.2%
Calhoun
7.0%
Lafayette
2.9%
Marshall
Yalobusha
Grenada
Leflore Carroll
1.0%
10.3%
Tallahatchie
-6.1%
-0.3%
Panola
-1.1%
Tate
DeSoto
8.7%
Quitman
Humphreys
-2.6%
Sharkey
-1.7%
-1.0%
Sunflower
-2.2%
Bolivar
Tunica
-13.3%
Coahoma
Washington
3.1% - 14.3%
2.1% - 3.0%
1.1% - 2.0%
0.1% - 1.0%
-19.4% - 0.0%
Percent Change in
Employment
Percentage Change in the Total Employment
by County 2012 to 2014
Map 3: Change in Employment for Mississippi Counties 2012 to 2014 -288
Hancock
-87
Pearl River
Lamar
Forrest
134
Jones
-350
20
Newton
-236
Neshoba
-27
Winston
62
Jasper
330
-68
870
54
20
Clay
-481
Oktibbeha
Smith
606
Scott
-39
Leake
-83
Attala
620
Lee
-213
275
Tishomingo
76
Prentiss
268 Alcorn
Chickasaw
Choctaw
-75
Webster
-106
Covington
Lawrence Jeff Davis
-31
-95
Simpson
Claiborne
-62
Copiah
-798
2,957
-1,234
-220
3,404
Madison
Statewide Change 2012 to 2014
Mean Increase: 154
Median Increase: 7
Standard Deviation: 777
Greatest Decrease in Employment: - 1,499
Greatest Increase in Employment:4,112
-348
Yazoo
263
-78
Holmes
-63
-55
Montgomery
Rankin
Warren
-15
-262
216
Union
256
Tippah
Pontotoc
-2
Benton
Calhoun
1,323
Lafayette
167
Marshall
Yalobusha
402 Grenada
Leflore Carroll
134
285
Tallahatchie
-31
Panola
-57
Tate
Hinds
Jefferson
Wilkinson
Adams
®
-37
-459
-75
Quitman
Humphreys
Sharkey
-305
Washington
Sunflower
-258
-233
Coahoma
-80
-1,499
Tunica
4,112
DeSoto
Change in the Total Employment
by County 2012 to 2014
Bolivar
Issaquena
1324 - 4112
466 - 1323
42 - 465
1 - 41
-1499 - 0
Change in
Employment
28 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
A Closer Look at Jasper County: the Unique Characteristics of
County-Level Economies
A detailed examination of each county within the 23-county service area of the Mississippi Power
Company is beyond the scope of this report; however, it is illustrative to examine a few of the many
factors that may uniquely impact business growth and employment within a specific county. With
the loss of approximately 350 jobs over the period from 2012 to 2014, Jasper County experienced
the largest decline in employment among the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties examined.
Jasper County also experienced a loss of 5 business establishments and a decrease of 5.7 percent in
total annual wages over the two year period. As shown in the figure below, the two major
components of employment decline in Jasper County was the loss of 200 jobs in the Manufacturing
Sector and the loss of 60 jobs in the Construction Sector. Other factors affecting Jasper County’s
economy may include the significant decline in oil and gas prices and the detrimental impact of
declining prices on field economics in the oil and gas industry. Historically, Jasper County has been
a leading gas and oil industry producer in the state of Mississippi and the home to multiple
producers and suppliers to the industry; for example, occupants of the Heidelberg Industrial Park in
Jasper include:










Denbury Management
Company
Logan Oil Field Services
Hays Petroleum
A & B Pump & Supply
Company
B & B Oil Service
Eagle Oil & Gas
Tellus Energy Group
Clarkco Services, Inc.
B. A. Sauls, Inc.
Full Circle Pump &
Supply
According to data from the
Mississippi Oil & Gas
Board; the number of original permits to drill in Jasper County fell from 48 in 2012 to 7 in 2014; this
decrease in drilling activity may be an important contributor to the loss of employment in Jasper
County. Although a more comprehensive economic study would be required to determine the
multiplicity of micro- and macro-economic factors that are impacting county economies, it is
important to note that there may be multiple causal factors beyond the rate increase by Mississippi
Power Company that are responsible for the negative and the positive change that has occurred in
the economies of the 23 counties served by Mississippi Power Company over the period from 2012
to 2014.
29 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Figure 13: Total Wages (in $1,000) and Percent Change in Total Wages 2004 through 2014
30 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Total Annual Wages In 2014, total annual wages of $40,913,541,000 were reported for the state of Mississippi in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW; of this amount, $38,798,338,000 in total annual wages were identified by the county in which the wages were paid and the balance of $2,115,203,000 were “undefined” by county. As in prior sections of this report, wages that are undefined by county are not included in the analysis of the potential impact of rate increases by Mississippi Power Company. Over the period from 2004 through 2014, approximately 33.5 percent of the total annual wages earned in the 82 counties of Mississippi were earned in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties and the balance (66.5 percent) were earned in the remaining 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Company Counties (Figure 14, below). Over the period from 2004 through 2014, the percentage share of total annual wages for the 23 Mississippi Power Counties has varied, but generally these variations have tended to be minor from year to year. Over the period from 2004 to 2009, the percentage share of total wages in the Mississippi Power Company Counties trended upward as compared to the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties; for example, in Figure 14: Percent Share of Annual Wages Earned in Mississippi Power and Non‐Mississippi Power Counties 2004 to 2014 2009, the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties had a 34.94 percent share of the total annual wages in the 82 counties of Mississippi as compared to a 32.62 percent share in 2004 (Figure 14 above). From the period from 2010, the percentage share of total wages for the Mississippi Power Counties began to trend downward and continued to decline through 2013 and then increased slightly from a 33.50 percent share in 2013 to a 33.54 percent share in 2014. Although the annual changes in the percent share of total wages in the Mississippi Power Counties are small and statistically insignificant, it would be anticipated that if the rate increase by Mississippi Power (in 2013 and 2014) was having a systemic negative impact across the 23 counties, then the decline in percent share of total wages from 2012 to 2013 (a decrease of 0.09 percent) would have exceeded the decline in the percent share of total wages in prior periods and would have been more significant than in prior periods. For example, from 2009 to 2010, the percentage share of total wages for the Mississippi Power Counties declined from 34.94 percent to 34.52 percent (a decrease
31 Warren
Hinds
$11,989
($12,539)
$7,666
$2,639
Marion
Lawrence Jeff Davis
($2,668)Covington
$2,390
Simpson
Forrest
$62,495
Jones
Jasper
($8,498)
Smith
$5,109
Newton
$5,388
$9,738
$36,387
$7,981
($5,557)
Hancock
$5,670
Pearl River
George
$157,533
Jackson
$35,770
Hinds
26.7%
Amite
5.3%
4.0%
Pike
6.0%
Lincoln
2.6%
Walthall
4.8%
5.2%
Lamar
-0.9%
Hancock
1.9%
5.4%
Perry
60.8%
Kemper
7.5%
Noxubee
Lowndes
-1.0%
9.7%
Monroe
7.1%
Jackson
26.5%
George
5.3%
Greene
4.5%
Wayne
-7.5%
Clarke
2.3%
32 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
2.9%
Harrison
4.5%
Stone
5.7%
2.0%
6.1%
Jones
-5.7%
Jasper
3.0%
Newton
1.3%
12.5%
Itawamba
Lauderdale
Winston
6.5%
Oktibbeha
9.6%
Tishomingo
4.1%
Prentiss
Lee
3.4%
Clay
-3.3%
Alcorn
5.5%
1.0%
Chickasaw
9.1%
Neshoba
Forrest
4.9%
Covington
Union
Pontotoc
Choctaw
10.9%
Smith
9.9%
Scott
3.4%
Leake
4.7%
Tippah
13.4%
12.7%
3.5%
Webster
2.5%
Pearl River
7.4%
Marion
Attala
3.8%
Lawrence Jeff Davis
-5.2%
1.2%
Simpson
9.3%
Rankin
12.3%
Madison
-0.1%
Percent Change in Total Wages 82 Counties
Minimum: -32.8%
Maximum: +60.8%
Mean: +3.9%
Median: +3.8%
Standard Deviation: 10.5%
-20.2%
Wilkinson
Franklin
3.6%
5.1%
Claiborne
Jefferson
2.5%
Copiah
Warren
Yazoo
8.5%
-32.8%
4.4%
Adams
®
-22.5%
1.9%
2.1%
Issaquena
-10.9%
Holmes
-5.5%
3.8%
Montgomery
Grenada
0.5%
Benton
-0.2%
Calhoun
10.0%
Lafayette
8.1%
Marshall
Yalobusha
5.7%
Leflore Carroll
-1.7%
19.6%
Tallahatchie
Humphreys
-1.9%
Sharkey
0.7%
Quitman
2.3%
Panola
Tate
11.3%
DeSoto
-0.9%
3.2% -4.4%
Sunflower
-1.8%
Bolivar
Tunica
-10.8%
Coahoma
Washington
19.7% - 60.8%
4.0% - 19.6%
1.1% - 3.9%
-0.8% - 1.0%
-32.8% - -0.9%
Percent Change in
Total Wages
Percent Change in Total Wages (in $1,000) by County
2012 to 2014
Map 4: Change in Total Annual Wages 2012 to 2014 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
$85,700
Harrison
$5,428
Stone
$2,845
Greene
$7,055
Wayne
($7,536)
Clarke
$26,532
Lauderdale
$75,999
Kemper
$4,920
Noxubee
$39,867
Winston
Lowndes
Oktibbeha
$30,605
Monroe
Itawamba
($9,546)
$5,418
Clay
($5,836)
$24,000
$17,517 Lamar
$76,310 Perry
Pike $3,378
Walthall
$17,323
$1,531
$21,496
Lincoln
$11,346
Copiah
Change in Total Wages 82 Counties
Expressed in $1,000
Minimum: -$80,912
Maximum: $231,142
Mean: $20,792
Median: $7,360
Standard Deviation: $46,010
Amite
Wilkinson
$2,866
Franklin
$1,307
Claiborne
Jefferson
($80,912)
$185,227
Rankin
Scott
Lee
$21,750
$14,506
Tishomingo
$8,239
Prentiss
$22,827
Alcorn
$18,701
Chickasaw
Neshoba
$8,127
Choctaw
$4,637
Leake
$4,994
Attala
$2,664
Madison
($123)
Holmes
($1,817)
$1,963
Webster
$2,390
Montgomery
$17,074
$231,142
$17,912
Yazoo
Humphreys
$509
Grenada
Leflore Carroll
$14,974
$129,095
($1,319)
$15,214
Adams
®
$721
Issaquena
$15,044
Tallahatchie
$30,046
$44,431
Union
($1,483)
Calhoun
$68,746
Lafayette
Yalobusha
$7,856
Panola
$8,021
Tippah
Pontotoc
($7,421)
($4,924)
Sharkey
$4,016
Washington
Tate
Benton
$14,746 ($70)
Marshall
Quitman
$8,415
Sunflower ($7,712)
($6,840)
Bolivar
Tunica
$170,884
($35,665) ($1,578)
Coahoma
$129,095.01 - $231,142.00
$44,431.01 - $129,095.00
$11,989.01 - $44,431.00
$0.01 - $11,989.00
($80,912.00) - $0.00
DeSoto
Change in Total Wages (in $1,000) by County 2012 to 2014
Change in Total Wages
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
of 0.42 percent) and from 2010 to 2011, the percent share of total wages for the Mississippi Power Counties declined from 34.52 percent to 34.03 percent (a decrease of 0.49 percent). It would also be anticipated that the percentage share of total wages for the Mississippi Power Counties would continue to decline and to have escalated over the period from 2013 to 2014 as the full effects of the rate increases systemically impacted the economies of the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties; as shown in Figure 14, on page 31, the percentage share of total annual wages as a percent of the total wages in the 82 counties of Mississippi increased by 0.04 percent from 2013 to 2014. Analysis of the percentage growth of total annual wages in the Mississippi Power Company Counties and the Non‐Mississippi Power Company Counties (Figure 13, page 30) follow a pattern that is similar to that found for employment growth (Figure 11, page 24), with the exception that the percentage increase in total wages in the Mississippi Power Company Counties exceeded that of the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties. The percentage change in total annual wages in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties did not turn positive until the period from 2010 to 2011; this was one year after the percentage change in total annual wages began to turn positive in the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties. Over the period from 2009 to 2010, the percentage change in total wages was ‐0.44 percent in the Mississippi Power Counties as compared to 1.42 percent in the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties. Then, from 2010 to 2011, and from 2011 to 2012, the percentage rate of growth in total annual wages in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties was lower during both periods when compared to the rate of growth in the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties (Figure 13, page 30). The rate of growth in total wages slowed over the period from 2012 to 2013 when compared to the period from 2011 to 2012 in the Mississippi Power Company Counties and in the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties; the Mississippi Power Company Counties exhibit a 0.24 percent decline in the rate of growth (2.11 percent from 2011 to 2012 and 1.87 percent from 2012 to 2013) and the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties exhibit a 1.80 percent decline in the rate of growth (4.09 percent from 2011 to 2012 and 2.29 percent from 2012 to 2013). From 2012 to 2013 (before and after the rate increase), total wages increased by 1.87 percent in the Mississippi Power Counties and by 2.29 percent in the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties — a difference of 0.32 percent in the percentage rate of change between the Mississippi Power Counties and the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties over the one year period. From 2013 to 2014, the percentage rate of growth in annual total wages is 2.52 percent in the Mississippi Power Counties and 2.33 percent in the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties (Figure 13 page 30). This indicates that the percentage rate of growth in total wages over the period from 2013 to 2014 was 0.19 percent higher in the Mississippi Power Counties as compared to the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties; although this difference is statistically insignificant, there is no evidence to support the assumption that the Mississippi Power Company rate increase had negatively or systemically impacted total annual wages across the 23 counties that it serves. Over the period from 2012 (prior to the rate increase) to 2014, total annual wages in the 82 counties of Mississippi increased from $37,093,313,000 to $38,798,338,000, an increase of $1,705,025,000, or 4.6 percent. Over the period from 2012 to 2014, 63 of the 82 counties (76.8 percent) in the state of Mississippi experienced an increase in total annual wages; the mean wage increase across the 82 counties was $20,792,999 with a standard deviation of ± $46,010,590, and the median wage increase was $7,360,500. Over the period, the maximum increase in total annual wages occurred in Madison County. 33 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Among the 15 counties in the state Table 10: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Highest Increase in Total Annual of Mississippi that experienced the Wages from 2012 to 2014 highest increase in total annual Total Annual Total Annual Change 2012 to Rank
County
Wages 2012
Wages 2014 2014
wages from 2012 to 2014, there 1 Madison
$1,879,921,000
$2,111,063,000
$231,142,000
were six Mississippi Power 2 Rankin
$1,996,746,000
$2,181,973,000
$185,227,000
Counties — Jackson, Harrison, 3 DeSoto
$1,517,028,000
$1,687,912,000
$170,884,000
Forrest, Jones, Scott, and George 4 Jackson
$2,205,912,000
$2,363,445,000
$157,533,000
5 Hinds
$5,074,945,000
$5,204,040,000
$129,095,000
(Table 10, at right). The total 6 Harrison
$2,926,914,000
$3,012,614,000
$85,700,000
annual wage increase of 7 Forrest
$1,350,325,000
$1,426,635,000
$76,310,000
$1,430,191,000 in these 15 8 Kemper
$125,047,000
$201,046,000
$75,999,000
counties represented 83.9 percent 9 Lafayette
$684,893,000
$753,639,000
$68,746,000
of the total annual wage increase 10 Jones
$1,020,431,000
$1,082,926,000
$62,495,000
11 Union
$331,538,000
$375,969,000
$44,431,000
of $1,705,025,000 across all 82 12
Oktibbeha
$615,273,000
$655,140,000
$39,867,000
counties in the state of Mississippi 13 Scott
$366,867,000
$403,254,000
$36,387,000
over the period from 2012 to 2014; 14 George
$135,232,000
$171,002,000
$35,770,000
over the same period, the total 15 Monroe
$314,400,000
$345,005,000
$30,605,000
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW
annual wage increase in the six Mississippi Power Counties accounted for 82.1 percent of the total annual wage increase of $553,052,000 across the 23 Mississippi Power Counties. Although beyond the focus of this study, it is of interest to note that Kemper County (the site of Mississippi Power Company’s integrated coal gasification combined cycle electric generating plant) had the 8th highest increase in total annual wages among the 82 counties in the state of Mississippi. Table 11: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Greatest Decline in Total Annual Among the 15 Mississippi counties Wages from 2012 to 2014 in the state of Mississippi that Total Annual Total Annual Change 2012 to experienced the greatest decrease Rank
County
Wages 2012
Wages 2014 2014
in total annual wages over the 1 Tate
$166,662,000
$165,084,000
($1,578,000)
period from 2012 to 2014, there 2 Carroll
$33,192,000
$31,375,000
($1,817,000)
were four Mississippi Power 3 Jeff Davis
$50,956,000
$48,288,000
($2,668,000)
4 Sunflower
$260,223,000
$255,299,000
($4,924,000)
Counties – Jefferson Davis, 5
Hancock
$612,017,000
$606,460,000
($5,557,000)
Hancock, Clarke, and Jasper (Table 6 Chickasaw
$176,143,000
$170,307,000
($5,836,000)
11, at right); these were the only 7 Bolivar
$389,811,000
$382,971,000
($6,840,000)
Mississippi Power Counties that 8 Humphreys
$68,385,000
$60,964,000
($7,421,000)
experienced a decline in total 9 Clarke
$100,614,000
$93,078,000
($7,536,000)
10
Leflore
$456,383,000
$448,671,000
($7,712,000)
annual wages over the period. 11
Jasper
$148,290,000
$139,792,000
($8,498,000)
Among all 19 Mississippi counties 12 Lowndes
$965,169,000
$955,623,000
($9,546,000)
that experienced a decline in total 13 Wilkinson
$62,225,000
$49,686,000
($12,539,000)
annual wages from 2012 to 2014, 14 Tunica
$330,625,000
$294,960,000
($35,665,000)
the total decline in annual wages 15 Claiborne
$246,946,000
$166,034,000
($80,912,000)
Source; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW
was $202,044,000; two counties – Tunica and Claiborne –accounted for 57.7 percent of this decline and the four Mississippi Power Counties that experienced a decline in total annual wages accounted for 12.0 percent of the total decline (in the four Mississippi Power Counties, the decline in annual wages totaled $24,259,000). 34 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Statewide, the percentage rate of increase in total annual wages was 4.60 percent over the period from 2012 to 2014; the mean percentage rate of increase across the 82 counties was 3.9 percent with a standard deviation of ± 10.5 Table 12: The 19 Mississippi Counties with the Greatest Percentage Decrease in percent and the median percentage Total Annual Wages from 2012 to 2014 rate of increase was 3.8 percent. Percentage Total Annual Total Annual Over the period from 2012 to 2014, Rank
County
Rate of Change Wages 2012
Wages 2014
the maximum percentage rate of 2012 to 2014
increase in total annual wages was 1 Claiborne
$246,946,000 $166,034,000
‐32.77%
2 Issaquena
$5,857,000
$4,538,000
‐22.52%
60.8 percent in Kemper County and 3
Wilkinson
$62,225,000
$49,686,000
‐20.15%
the greatest percentage decrease in 4
Humphreys
$68,385,000
$60,964,000
‐10.85%
total annual wages was 32.8 percent 5 Tunica
$330,625,000 $294,960,000
‐10.79%
in Claiborne County. Among the 15 Mississippi counties with the greatest percentage decrease in total annual wages from 2012 to 2014, there were three Mississippi Power Counties – Clarke, Jasper, and Jefferson Davis. Note that all 19 counties in the state of Mississippi that experienced a decline in total annual wages are presented in Table 12, at right. 6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Clarke
Jasper
Carroll
Jeff Davis
Quitman
Chickasaw
Sunflower
Bolivar
Leflore
Lowndes
Tate
Hancock
Benton
Holmes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Kemper
Amite
George
Tallahatchie
Union
Choctaw
Itawamba
Madison
DeSoto
Smith
Lafayette
Scott
Monroe
Tishomingo
Rankin
$100,614,000
$148,290,000
$33,192,000
$50,956,000
$33,926,000
$176,143,000
$260,223,000
$389,811,000
$456,383,000
$965,169,000
$166,662,000
$612,017,000
$40,483,000
$104,622,000
$93,078,000
$139,792,000
$31,375,000
$48,288,000
$32,443,000
$170,307,000
$255,299,000
$382,971,000
$448,671,000
$955,623,000
$165,084,000
$606,460,000
$40,413,000
$104,499,000
‐7.49%
‐5.73%
‐5.47%
‐5.24%
‐4.37%
‐3.31%
‐1.89%
‐1.75%
‐1.69%
‐0.99%
‐0.95%
‐0.91%
‐0.17%
‐0.12%
$201,046,000
$56,892,000
$171,002,000
$91,741,000
$375,969,000
$72,047,000
$195,152,000
$2,111,063,000
$1,687,912,000
$99,328,000
$753,639,000
$403,254,000
$345,005,000
$165,691,000
$2,181,973,000
60.78%
26.70%
26.45%
19.61%
13.40%
12.71%
12.54%
12.30%
11.26%
10.87%
10.04%
9.92%
9.73%
9.59%
9.28%
Among the 15 Mississippi counties Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW
that exhibited the highest percentage increase in total annual Table 13: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Highest Percentage Rate of Increase in Total Annual Wages from 2012 to 2014 wages over the period from 2012 to Percentage 2014, three were Mississippi Power Total Annual Total Annual Rate of Change Rank
County
Wages 2012
Wages 2014
Counties – George, Smith, and Scott 2012 to 2014
(Table 13, at right). Statistically, counties that exhibit a decrease of up to 6.6 percent in total annual wages or an increase up to 14.4 percent in total annual wages are within one standard deviation below or above the mean for the 82 counties in Mississippi; based upon these statistics, within the 23 Mississippi Power Counties, the only percentage decrease in total annual wages that was statistically significant occurred in Clarke County. $125,047,000
$44,903,000
$135,232,000
$76,697,000
$331,538,000
$63,920,000
$173,402,000
$1,879,921,000
$1,517,028,000
$89,590,000
$684,893,000
$366,867,000
$314,400,000
$151,185,000
$1,996,746,000
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW
35 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
In the 23 Mississippi Power Counties, total annual wages increased from $12,461,374,000 in 2012 to $13,014,426,000 in 2014; this represented an increase of $553,052,000, or 4.44 percent. In the 59 Non‐
Mississippi Power Counties, total annual wages increased from $24,631,939,000 in 2012 to $25,783,912,000 in 2014; this represented an increase of $1,151,973,000, or 4.68 percent. Although the difference of 0.24 percent in the rate of change in total annual wages in the Mississippi Power Counties is not statistically different than that of the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties over the period from 2012 to 2014, it would be anticipated that a negative impact from utility rate increases would be exhibited in the percentage rate of growth in total annual wages over the period from 2012 to 2014; therefore, the data does not support a finding that utility rate increases have caused economic decline in the 23 counties that are served Table 14: Comparison of the Difference in the Percentage of Mississippi Power Counties and by Mississippi Power Non‐Mississippi Power Counties Experiencing Growth in Total Annual Wages from 2012 to Company. 2014 Comparison of Growth in Total Annual Wages 2012 to 2014
Over the period from Mississippi Power Counties
Non‐Mississippi Power Counties
2012 to 2014, 82.6 Counties with Growth
19 Counties with Growth
44
Counties with Decrease
4 Counties with Decrease
15
percent of the 23 Total
23 Total
59
Mississippi Power Percent of Counties with Growth
82.61% Percent of Counties with Growth
74.58%
Company Counties had Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
an increase in total annual wages as compared to 74.6 percent of the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties (Table 14, above). Although the percentage rate of Mississippi Power Company Counties that experienced an increase in total annual wages over the period from 2012 to 2014 is almost eight percent (8.03%) higher than that of the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties, it cannot be inferred that there is any causal relationship between the rate increase by Mississippi Power Company and the positive growth in total annual wages in the 23 counties served by Mississippi Power Company as this would be a spurious assumption due to the findings in prior sections of this report that found no relationship to exist between either employment or business growth over the period from 2012 (prior to the rate increase) and the end of 2014 (the year in which the full impact of two years of rate increases would be exhibited) in the 23 counties. In addition, the assumption that one relatively minor economic change, such as a utility rate increase, within the context of a national and statewide economy struggling to recover from the Great Recession would be the sole cause of any economic change within 23 counties runs counterfactual to an array of fundamental economic theory. 36 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
A Closer Look at George County: the Unique Characteristics of
County-Level Economies
Over the period from 2012 to 2014, employment in George County increased by 584 jobs; over this
period, the county had the 10th highest absolute growth in total employment and the 2nd highest
percentage increase in employment among the 82 counties in the state of Mississippi. From 2012 to
2014, total annual wages in George County grew by $35.8 million and increased by 26.5 percent; the
county also had the 3rd highest percentage increase in total annual wages in the state of Mississippi.
In 2014, the Government Sector and the Retail Trade Sector represented 27.4 percent and 18.6
percent, respectively, of total employment in George County. With the exception of the dominance
of the Government and Retail Trade sectors, the economy of George County is well-diversified and
no other industry sector represents more than 10 percent of total employment; while this
diversification may be a contributing factor to the economic health of the county, two sectors –
Construction and Health Care – were the major contributors to employment growth over the period
from 2012 to 2014. From 2012 to 2014, employment in the Construction Sector increased by 340
(an increase of 141.7 percent) and employment in the Health Care Sector increased by 150 (an
increase of 45.5 percent); employment in the Retail Trade Sector increased by 60 (an increase of 6.5
percent) and employment in the Manufacturing Sector increased by 40 (an increase of 14.8 percent);
the Government Sector saw no employment increase from 2012 to 2014.
Although a comprehensive investigation of the factors contributing to the economic growth in
George County is beyond the scope of
this report, the following elements were
identified as potential drivers of
employment growth in the Construction
and Health Care Sectors:
• A $287 million investment to expand
Gulf South’s natural gas pipeline
system occurred over the period
from 2012 through 2014
• Investments and Improvements to
the George County Industrial Park
• The passage of an $18 million school
bond issue to build new classrooms
and a fine arts center
• The George County Regional
Hospital’s modernization and expansion to include a Health and Rehabilitation Center
It is highly probable that the expansion of the Gulf South’s pipeline was a significant contributory
factor to the increase in employment in the Construction Sector; although the duration of the
economic impact of this project may be short-term, it serves to illustrate the multiple micro- and
macro-economic factors that may uniquely impact local economies.
37 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Figure 15: Mississippi Individual Income Tax Returns 2006 to 2014 38 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Individual Income Tax Returns The Mississippi Department of Revenue reports data on the number of individual income tax returns filed; data is reported by county for individual income tax returns filed by residents within each county, income tax returns for out‐of‐state filers are reported separately as an aggregate number and therefore cannot be attributed to specific counties. Out‐of‐state filers normally include returns filed by those who earn income within the state of Mississippi but may reside out‐of‐state; examples may include construction workers, stevedores or longshoreman, contract workers, workers in the oil or gas industry, individuals that own vacation homes in the state of Mississippi, or casino workers that work within the state of Mississippi but maintain a permanent residence outside of the state. Although it is an imperfect metric, the number of individual income tax returns may be used as one indicator of change in economic activity within the counties of the state of Mississippi. Figure 16: Total Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed in the State of Mississippi 2006 through 2014 In fiscal year 2014, the Mississippi Department of Revenue reported that the number of personal income tax returns filed by residents of counties was 1,028,703, the number of reported out‐of‐state personal income tax returns filed was 123,213, and the total number of reported personal income tax returns filed was 1,151,916 (Figure 16, above). Over the period from 2006 through 2014, the total number of individual tax returns filed in the state of Mississippi (including both in‐state and out‐of‐state) has generally exhibited a downward slope; exceptions include an increase of 1.96 percent in the 39 40 Figure 17: Comparison of Mississippi Power Company Counties and Non‐Mississippi Power Company Counties, Number of Personal Income Tax Returns Filed as a Percent of Total In‐State Returns Filed 2006 through 2014
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
number of individual returns filed from 2009 to 2010 and an increase from 2011 to 2012 of 2.66 percent in the number of individual returns filed. From 2011 to 2012, the total number of individual income tax returns filed in the state of Mississippi increased by 33,024; this increase was followed by a decline of 104,978 (a decrease of 8.24 percent) in the number of returns filed from 2012 to 2013, and then from 2013 to 2014, the number of individual income tax returns declined by 17,828 (a 1.52 percent decrease). Historically, individual income tax returns filed by out‐of‐state filers have averaged approximately 10.1 percent of the total individual income tax returns filed and have trended slightly upward over the period from 2006 through 2014 (Figure 18, at right); due to the longitudinal stability of this percentage distribution, out‐of‐state filers will have relatively little impact on the findings discussed in the following paragraphs. The Mississippi Public Service Commission voted to approve a retail rate increase of 15 Figure 18: Out‐of‐State Individual Income Tax Returns as a Percent percent effective March 19, 2013 and an of Total Returns 2006 through 2014 increase of an additional 3 percent to become effective January 1, 2014 (MPSC Rate Order); this rate increase impacted all retail customers of Mississippi Power Company in 23 Mississippi counties. Statewide, the total number of individual income tax returns filed by all in‐state filers declined by 113,041 from 2012 (prior to the rate increase) through 2014 — a decrease of 9.9 percent; out‐of‐state filers are excluded from these totals. To examine the impact these rate increases may have had within the counties served by Mississippi Power Company, the data for the number of individual income tax filers for the 23 counties served by Mississippi Power Company was disaggregated from the data for the remaining 59 counties in the state of Mississippi that are served by other utility providers. As shown in Table 15 below, the percentage change in the number of individual income tax returns filed in the 23 counties served by Mississippi Power Company is statistically no different than that exhibited in the 59 Mississippi counties that are served by other electric power company providers. Table 15: Number of In‐State Individual Income Tax Returns Filed 2006 through 2014 Number of In‐State Individual Income Tax Returns Filed 2006 through 2014
Total MS Power Company Counties
Total Non‐Mississippi Power Company Counties
Total All Mississippi In‐
State Filers
Percent Change Change 2012 to 2012 to 2014
2014
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
349,476
349,272
345,149
342,783
347,651
341,523
351,532
316,140
316,752
‐34,780
‐9.89%
936,928
813,128
775,857
774,837
785,684
771,569
790,212
731,808
711,951
‐78,261
‐9.90%
1,286,404 1,162,400 1,121,006 1,117,620 1,133,335 1,113,092 1,141,744 1,047,948 1,028,703 ‐113,041 ‐9.90%
Source: Mississippi Department of Revenue, Annual Reports for Fiscal Years 2006 through 2014 41 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Figure 17 on page 40 shows the percentage of total in‐state individual tax returns filed within the 23 counties served by Mississippi Power Company expressed as a percent of the total in‐state returns filed statewide as compared to the percentage of total in‐state individual tax returns filed within the 59 counties that are not served by Mississippi Power Company expressed as a percent of the total in‐state returns filed. Individual income tax returns filed by filers within the 23 counties served by Mississippi Power Company represented 30.79 percent of the total in‐state individual income tax returns filed statewide in 2014 (the same percentage rate that it was in 2012 prior to the rate increase and the same percentage rate that it was in 2008 ‐ Figure 17, page 40), as compared to 69.21 percent of total in‐state returns filed in the 59 non‐Mississippi Power Company counties in 2014. The longitudinal stability of the percentage share of total individual income tax returns filed by filers within the 23 counties served by Mississippi Power Company when compared to the percent of total individual income tax returns filed by filers within the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties in 2012, 2013, and 2014 (Figure 17, page 40), combined with the absence of a statistically significant difference in the percentage rate of change in the percentage distribution of individual income tax returns filed within the 23 counties served by Mississippi Power Company as compared to that of Non‐Mississippi Power Counties from 2012 to 2014 (Table 15, page 41) leads to a conclusion that there is no evidence to support a finding that the rate increase by Mississippi Power Company is a causal factor for economic decline in 23 counties in the state of Mississippi. The statewide decline in the number of individual income tax returns filed as a measure of economic activity may be indicative of the lingering, systemic economic impacts of the Great Recession and the failure of the U.S. economy and that of the state of Mississippi to recover from the Great Recession; it may also be indicative of other factors, such as the declining workforce participation rates that are found nationwide. For example in 2013, 63.6 percent of the U.S. population age 16 and over was in the labor force as compared to 65.0 percent in 2006; in 2013, 57.5 percent of Mississippi’s population age 16 and over was in the labor force as compared to 59.7 percent in 2006. 42 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
A Closer Look at Hancock County: the Unique Characteristics of
County-Level Economies
With an increase of 44 business establishments
and an increase of 5.5 percent in
establishments, Hancock County had the 7th
highest increase and the 6th highest percentage
growth rate in the number of business
establishments among the 82 counties in the
state of Mississippi over the period from 2012
to 2014. Despite an increase in the number
of business establishments, employment in
Hancock County declined by 2.16 percent,
losing 288 jobs over the period from 2012 to
2014. Average annual pay in Hancock County
was $48,017 in 2014, which was the 4rd highest
among all the counties in the state; average
annual pay increased by 1.29 percent from
2012 to 2014, this compared to a median
increase of 3.4 percent across the 82 counties
in Mississippi. Although total annual wages in
Hancock County declined by $5,557,000 from
2012 to 2014 (a decrease of 0.91 percent over
the period), the county then experienced an
increase of $7,237,000, or 1.2 percent over the
period from 2013 to 2014.
As shown in the figure at top
right, Hancock County has
been experiencing a slow
decline in total employment
since 2009; when employment
is disaggregated by industry
sector, it becomes apparent that
employment in the
Professional, Scientific, and
Technical Services Sector and
in the Administrative Support
& Waste Management Sector
has been in decline since 2009
and 2010, respectively (see
figure at right).
43 $4,224
($1,189)
$687
Pike
$1,064
Lincoln
$1,877
Copiah
$1,518
Hinds
Madison
Attala
Scott
$1,405
Marion
Walthall
Lamar
$827
Perry
$795
$2,035
Jackson
$3,580
George
$1,156
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
$970
Harrison
$831
Stone
$950
Greene
$2,164
Wayne
($512)
Clarke
$767
Lauderdale
$15,653
Kemper
$1,543
Noxubee
Lowndes
$893
$2,368
-16.6%
15.1%
Amite
4.3%
Franklin
-0.4%
2.3%
Pike
3.2%
Lincoln
6.0%
Copiah
3.6%
Hinds
7.5%
-3.4%
2.5%
Simpson
3.8%
Rankin
4.7%
Madison
Walthall
8.0%
4.8%
Lamar
1.3%
Hancock
2.8%
6.1%
Perry
40.6%
Kemper
5.7%
Noxubee
Lowndes
2.3%
7.0%
Monroe
4.4%
Jackson
11.7%
George
4.2%
Greene
6.9%
Wayne
-1.6%
Clarke
2.2%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
2.7%
Harrison
2.7%
Stone
2.6%
2.1%
5.6%
Jones
2.7%
Jasper
2.6%
Newton
3.2%
6.1%
Itawamba
Lauderdale
Winston
1.7%
Oktibbeha
4.1%
Tishomingo
3.0%
Prentiss
Lee
4.8%
Clay
5.1%
Alcorn
3.4%
1.5%
Chickasaw
3.4%
Neshoba
Forrest
3.0%
Covington
Union
Pontotoc
Choctaw
8.7%
Smith
4.8%
Scott
4.2%
Leake
0.2%
Tippah
10.9%
9.1%
7.5%
Webster
5.8%
Pearl River
3.8%
Marion
Attala
5.7%
Lawrence Jeff Davis
Yazoo
4.0%
2.0%
Holmes
Statewide Change 2012 to 2014
Minimum: -16.6%
Maximum: +40.6%
Mean: +3.9%
Median: +3.4%
Standard Deviation: 5.8%
-3.9%
Wilkinson
Warren
3.0%
3.5%
Claiborne
Jefferson
3.4%
Adams
®
-8.6%
Issaquena
6.7%
0.0%
6.1%
Montgomery
Grenada
9.4%
Benton
0.0%
Calhoun
2.9%
Lafayette
5.1%
Marshall
Yalobusha
1.5%
Leflore Carroll
-2.6%
8.5%
Tallahatchie
2.5%
Panola
0.1%
Tate
DeSoto
2.4%
Quitman
1.8%
2.8%
Tunica
Humphreys
Sharkey
2.5%
0.7%
Sunflower
0.4%
Bolivar
4.2%
Coahoma
Washington
6.4% - 40.6%
3.9% - 6.3%
1.1% - 3.8%
0.1% - 1.0%
-16.6% - 0.0%
Percent Change in
Average Annual Pay
Percent Change in Average Annual Pay from 2012 to 2014
Map 5: Change in Average Annual Pay from 2012 to 2014 by County $592
Hancock
$850
Pearl River
$2,155 $1,234
$3,004
Lawrence Jeff Davis
$2,032
Jones
$920
Jasper
$763
Newton
$1,050
Forrest
$2,874
Smith
$1,419
$1,946
Winston
$556
Oktibbeha
$1,857
Itawamba
Monroe
$522
Lee
$1,191
Tishomingo
$847
Prentiss
$1,072
Alcorn
$1,509
Clay
$1,487
Chickasaw
$993
Neshoba
$3,111
Choctaw
$2,022
$1,134
Leake
$1,623
($1,062)Covington
$668
Simpson
$1,352
Rankin
$1,877
Statewide Change 2012 to 2014
Minimum: -$9,960
Maximum: +15,653
Mean: +$1,207
Median: +$1,068
Standard Deviation: $2,263
Amite
$1,400
Franklin
($117)
Jefferson
($9,960)
Claiborne
$1,155
Wilkinson
$1,099
Adams
®
($2,073)
$1,386
$567
Holmes
($5)
$1,652
Webster
$1,607
Montgomery
Grenada
$2,704
$3,743
Union
$58
Tippah
Pontotoc
$2
Benton
Calhoun
$1,033
Lafayette
$1,607
Marshall
Yalobusha
$468
Leflore Carroll
Yazoo
$1,655
Warren
$942
Issaquena
$2,342
($866)
Humphreys
Sharkey
$789
Washington
$219
Sunflower
$143
Bolivar
Tallahatchie
Quitman
$1,321 $486
Coahoma
$826
$2,000.01 - $15,653.00
$1,000.01 - $2,000.00
$28
Tate
Panola
$830
Tunica
$763
DeSoto
$500.01 - $1,000.00
$0.01 - $500.00
($9,960.00) - $0.00
Change in
Average Annual Pay
Change in Average Annual Pay from 2012 to 2014
44 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Average Annual Pay Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS QCEW) for average annual pay across all industries, all establishment sizes, and all types of ownership that was defined by county was used to identify and analyze change in average annual pay. Average annual pay that was undefined by county is excluded from the analysis that is described in the following section of this document.8 In 2014, the median average annual pay across the 82 counties of Mississippi was $32,445; the mean statewide average annual pay across the 82 counties was $33,368 with a standard deviation of ± $5,376. Among the 82 counties in Mississippi, the lowest average annual pay was $22,146 in Issaquena County and the highest average annual pay was $54,199 in Kemper County as of 2014. Among the 10 Mississippi counties that had the highest average annual pay in 2014, three were Mississippi Power Counties — Jackson, Hancock, and Perry (Map 10, in Appendix A, page LIX). Over the period from 2004 through 2008, average annual pay across the 82 counties in Mississippi increased by $4,177, with an average annual increase of approximately $1,004 per year and a 3.8 percent average annual growth rate over the period. From 2008 to 2009, average annual pay increased by only $90 and the rate of growth was 0.3 percent over the one year period. Over the period from 2009 to 2014, average annual pay across the 82 counties in Mississippi increased by $3,341, Figure 19: Statewide Change in Average Annual Pay 2004 to 2014
with an average annual increase of approximately $572 per year and a 1.8 percent average annual growth rate over the period (Figure 19, above). Over the period from 2012 to 2014, the median annual pay increase
8 Author’s note: when queried using the category “statewide Mississippi,” rather than by individual county, U.S. BLS QCEW reports the Average Annual Pay in the state of Mississippi to be $37,117 in 2014. Included in this average is Average Annual Pay in the amount of $50,920 in 2014 that is “unknown or undefined” by county; because the statewide Average Annual Pay includes this undefined Average Annual Pay, the “statewide Mississippi” average is higher than that when the undefined Average Annual Pay is not included in the statewide county averages. The mean Average Annual Pay in the amount of $33,368 across all counties in Mississippi that is used in this section of the document excludes Average Annual Pay that is undefined by county in the BLS QCEW data. 45 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Figure 20: Change in Average Annual Pay in 23 Mississippi Power Counties and Non‐Mississippi Power Counties 2004 through 2014 46 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
across all 82 Mississippi counties was $1,068; the median increase in average annual pay was $1,207 with a standard deviation of ± $2,263. From 2012 to 2014, 74 Mississippi Counties had an increase in average annual pay and eight counties experienced a decrease in average annual pay; the change in average annual pay across the 82 counties in Mississippi ranged from a maximum of $15,653 in Kemper County to a minimum of ‐$9,960 in Claiborne County. Table 16: The 15 Mississippi Counties with the Lowest Increase or a Among the 15 Mississippi counties with the Decline in Average Annual Pay 2012 to 2014 lowest increase (or a decline) in average annual pay, there were two Mississippi Power Percent Change in Change in 2012
2014
Average Annual Average Annual Counties — Clarke and Jefferson Davis. Over County
Pay 2012 to 2014 Pay 2012 to 2014
the period from 2012 to 2014, Clarke County Quitman
$27,400
$27,886
$486
1.77%
experienced a decline of $512 in average Grenada
$30,584
$31,052
$468
1.53%
annual pay; this represented a 1.60 percent Sunflower
$29,301
$29,520
$219
0.75%
decline in average annual pay (Table 16, at Bolivar
$32,917
$33,060
$143
0.43%
Tippah
$29,943
$30,001
$58
0.19%
right). Tate
Benton
Carroll
Jefferson
Clarke
Leflore
Jeff Davis
Wilkinson
Issaquena
Claiborne
$30,786
$30,717
$28,385
$28,234
$31,948
$32,867
$30,909
$30,118
$24,219
$60,002
$30,814
$30,719
$28,380
$28,117
$31,436
$32,001
$29,847
$28,929
$22,146
$50,042
$28
$2
‐$5
‐$117
‐$512
‐$866
‐$1,062
‐$1,189
‐$2,073
‐$9,960
0.09%
0.01%
‐0.02%
‐0.41%
‐1.60%
‐2.63%
‐3.44%
‐3.95%
‐8.56%
‐16.60%
Among the 15 counties in Mississippi that experienced the greatest dollar increase in average annual pay over the period from 2012 to 2014, there were five Mississippi Power Counties – George, Smith, Wayne, Jackson and Jones; George County had the 4th highest increase in average annual pay and Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Smith County had the 7th highest Table 17: The 15 Counties with the Greatest Increase in Average Annual Pay increase in average annual pay among from 2012 to 2014 the 82 counties in the state of Change in Percent Change in Rank County
2012
2014
Average Annual Average Annual Pay Mississippi (Table 17, at right). Pay 2012 to 2014
2012 to 2014
George, Smith, and Wayne counties 1
Kemper
$38,546 $54,199
$15,653
40.61%
were also among the 15 counties in 2
Amite
$28,043 $32,267
$4,224
15.06%
3
Union
$34,270
$38,013
$3,743
10.92%
the state of Mississippi that had the 4
George
$30,635 $34,215
$3,580
11.69%
greatest percentage increase in 5
Choctaw
$34,310 $37,421
$3,111
9.07%
6
Lawrence
$39,914 $42,918
$3,004
7.53%
average annual pay over the period 7
Smith
$33,001 $35,875
$2,874
8.71%
from 2012 to 2014; these counties 8
Yalobusha
$28,803 $31,507
$2,704
9.39%
9
Monroe
$33,825 $36,193
$2,368
7.00%
ranked as having the 3rd, 7th, and 13th 10 Tallahatchie $27,597 $29,939
$2,342
8.49%
highest percentage increase in average 11 Wayne
$31,251 $33,415
$2,164
6.92%
annual pay among Mississippi’s 82 12 Walthall
$26,904 $29,059
$2,155
8.01%
$45,982 $48,017
$2,035
4.43%
counties (no percentage ranking tables 13 Jackson
14 Jones
$36,124 $38,156
$2,032
5.63%
are included). 15 Webster
$27,044 $29,066
$2,022
7.48%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Average annual pay in the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties grew from $33,110 in 2012 to $34,274 in 2014; this represented an average increase of $1,164 and a percentage increase of 3.52 percent over the period. Average annual pay in the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties grew from $31,790 in 2012 to $33,015 in 2014; this represented an average increase of $1,225 and a percentage increase of 3.85 percent over the period. Over the period from 2012 to 2014, the percentage rate of 47 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
increase in average annual pay across the 23 Mississippi Power Counties was 0.34 percent lower than that of the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties; this difference is not statistically significant and there is no evidence that the utility rate increase in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties has detrimentally impacted the increase in average annual pay when compared to the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties. Although not the focus of this study, it is of interest to examine the contribution to the increase in average annual pay that is made by Kemper County; over the period from 2012 to 2014, average annual pay in Kemper increased by $15,653 — an increase of 40.61 percent. When the increase in average annual pay for the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties is calculated without including Kemper County, the increase in average annual pay across the remaining 58 counties drops from $1,224 to $976 and the percentage rate of increase in average annual pay declines from 3.85 percent to 2.08 percent over the period from 2012 to 2014. The impact of Kemper County on the percentage rate of increase in average annual pay within the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties is further illustrated in Figure 20 on page 46. When Kemper County is not included in the calculation of the percentage rate of increase in average annual pay, the percentage rate of change in the remaining 58 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties declines from 1.59 percent to 1.11 percent as compared to 0.80 percent in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties over the period from 2012 to 2013, and is 0.75 percent lower than the percentage rate of change in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties over the period from 2013 to 2014. If the Mississippi Power Company rate increase was a causal factor in economic decline within the 23 counties it serves, it would be anticipated that these negative effects would show evidence of increasing over time as the full impact of the rate increases took effect; therefore, it would be probable that negative effects would more likely be observed during the period from 2013 to 2014 rather than during the period from 2012 to 2013. As shown in Figure 20 on page 46, over the period from 2012 to 2013, average annual pay in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties increased by 0.80 percent; although this percentage rate of growth is lower than that of the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties, it is not significantly different. More importantly, over the period from 2013 to 2014, the percentage rate of growth in average annual pay is 2.70 percent in the Mississippi Power Counties; this rate of growth is higher than that of the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties and is also higher than the rate of growth in average annual pay during multiple periods prior to the rate increase which took effect in 2013 (e.g. from 2009 to 2010 or from 2010 to 2011). Therefore, there is no evidence to indicate that the rate increase by Mississippi Power has had a negative impact on average annual pay within the 23 Mississippi counties in its area of service. 48 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
A Closer Look at Jackson County: The Unique Characteristics of
County-Level Economies
In 2014, employment in Jackson County was 49,221. Over the period from 2012 to 2014,
employment in Jackson County increased by
1,247; this was the 5th highest absolute
increase in employment among the 82
counties in the state of Mississippi and
represented an increase of 2.6 percent over
the period. As shown in the figure at right,
employment in Jackson County declined by
0.4 percent over the period from 2013 to
2014; however, the county’s economy has
exhibited a pattern of historical swings in
employment over time. The average annual
pay in Jackson County was $48,017 in 2014;
this was the 3rd highest among the 82
counties in the state of Mississippi. From
2012 to 2014, average annual pay in Jackson
County increased by $2,035, or 4.4 percent.
With total annual wages of $2,363,445,000,
Jackson County had the 3rd highest total
annual wages in the state of Mississippi in
2014; from 2012 to 2014, total annual wages
increased by $157,533,000, representing an
increase of 7.1 percent over the period.
From 2012 to 2014, the number of business
establishments in Jackson County increased
by 14 from 2,370 establishments in 2012 to
2,384 establishments in 2014 — this
represented an increase of 0.59 percent.
When employment is disaggregated by
industry sector, it becomes apparent that the
major components of employment growth in
Jackson County were the Manufacturing Sector, the Construction Sector, and the Administrative
Support & Waste Management Sector. As shown in the figure directly above, employment in the
Manufacturing Sector increased by 1,290 over the period from 2012 to 2014, with the largest
increase occurring from 2013 to 2014 — employment increased by 1,070 in this one year period.
Employment in the Administrative Support & Waste Management Sector increased by 130 over the
period from 2012 to 2014; as shown in the figure above, after experiencing a decline from 2012 to
2013, employment in this sector increased by 200 over the period from 2013 to 2014. This illustrates
how employment patterns tend to be unique to specific industries within a county. 49 33.09%
33.13%
316,140
731,808
30.17%
2013
$33,374
$32,297
1.03
30.79%
2012
$33,110
$31,790
1.04
2013
33.50%
351,532
790,212
2012
33.59%
$12,461,374 $12,694,260
$24,631,939 $25,196,874
2013
348,745
705,161
347,268
700,897
2012
2013
31.77%
31.87%
2012
19,921
42,787
19,765
42,251
2013
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages 2004 through 2014
Mississippi Power Counties
Non‐Mississippi Power Counties
Mississippi Power Counties Ratio
Mississippi Power Counties
Non‐Mississippi Power Counties
Mississippi Power Counties Percent of Total
Mississippi Power Counties
Non‐Mississippi Power Counties
Mississippi Power Counties Percent of Total
Mississippi Power Counties
Non‐Mississippi Power Counties
Mississippi Power Counties Percent of Total
Mississippi Power Counties
Non‐Mississippi Power Counties
Mississippi Power Counties Percent of Total
2012
34
64
1,477
4,264
1,804
5,046
$34,274
$33,015
1.04
2014
30.79%
316,752
711,951
2014
Not Applicable
0.79%
1.27%
0.17%
0.15%
0.96%
1.42%
3,281
9,310
Not Applicable
0.43%
0.61%
0.52%
0.72%
0.94%
1.33%
$232,886
$564,935
$320,166
$587,038
1.87%
2.29%
2.52%
2.33%
4.44%
4.68%
612
‐19,857
‐10.07%
‐7.39%
Not Applicable
‐34,780
‐78,261
0.19%
‐2.71%
‐9.89%
‐9.90%
$264
$507
$900
$717
$1,164
0.80%
$1,224
1.59%
Not Applicable
2.70%
2.22%
3.52%
3.85%
Absolute Absolute Absolute Percent Change Percent Change Percent Change Change 2012 to Change 2013 Change 2012 2012 to 2013
2013 to 2014
2012 to 2014
2013
to 2014
to 2014
Average Annual Pay
‐35,392
‐58,404
Absolute Absolute Absolute Percent Change Percent Change Percent Change Change 2012 to Change 2013 Change 2012 2012 to 2013
2013 to 2014
2012 to 2014
2013
to 2014
to 2014
Not Applicable
$553,052
$1,151,973
Absolute Absolute Absolute Percent Change Percent Change Percent Change Change 2012 to Change 2013 Change 2012 2012 to 2013
2013 to 2014
2012 to 2014
2013
to 2014
to 2014
In‐State Individual Income Tax Returns
33.54%
$13,014,426
$25,783,912
2014
190
600
Employment
Absolute Absolute Absolute Percent Change Percent Change Percent Change Change 2012 to Change 2013 Change 2012 2012 to 2013
2013 to 2014
2012 to 2014
2013
to 2014
to 2014
156
536
Absolute Absolute Absolute Percent Change Percent Change Percent Change Change 2012 to Change 2013 Change 2012 2012 to 2013
2013 to 2014
2012 to 2014
2013
to 2014
to 2014
Total Annual Wages (in $1,000)
33.05%
350,549
710,207
2014
31.77%
19,955
42,851
2014
Business Establishments
Table 18: Encapsulation of Data 50 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Review of the Findings On March 5, 2013, the Mississippi Public Service Commission voted to approve a utility rate increase by Mississippi Power Company of 15 percent, effective March 19, 2013 and an additional rate increase of three (3) percent to become effective January 1, 2014. The purpose of this study was to analyze change in major economic indicators and to describe patterns or causal relationships that may have been found to exist between changes in these major economic indicators and the utility rate increase by Mississippi Power Company in the 23 counties Mississippi counties served by Mississippi Power Company. To examine changes that may have occurred in the economies of the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties, the Stennis Institute Research Team selected economic indicators that measure the major components of economic change, to include: 




a change in the number of business establishments a change in employment a change in total annual wages a change in the number of individual income tax returns filed a change in average annual pay The study examined the change that occurred in the selected economic indicators over the period 2012 through 2014; 2012 is the period prior to the time the utility rate increase went into effect, the period from 2012 to 2013 was expected to capture the partial effect of the rate increases and 2014 was anticipated to capture the full effect of the rate increase from January 2014 through December 2014. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (BLS QCEW) data was used to analyze the number of business establishments, total employment, total annual wages, and average annual pay; this data is collected for the months of January through December of the calendar year and then reports annual average data for each year for each county in the United States. Although the BLS QCEW data may be queried and disaggregated based upon specific industry sectors, the size of establishments as defined by the number of employees, and based upon ownership (private, federal government, or state and local government), the Stennis Research Team selected to use data for all business establishments (regardless of size or ownership) and total employment across all industries and all businesses for each county in the state of Mississippi to avoid bias in the findings and to assure that all potential economic effects were included in the analysis. In addition to the BLS QCEW data, the Research Team used data from the Mississippi Department of Revenue to analyze the number of individual income tax returns filed in the state of Mississippi by in‐state filers. This study disaggregated the data for the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties from the data for the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Company Counties in the state of Mississippi; the Research Team calculated the median, mean, and standard deviation, absolute change, and percentage rate of change and then compared these measures of change to analyze differences that might exist between the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties and the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Company Counties. This research found no evidence to support a finding for a difference in the change exhibited in the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties when compared to the change exhibited in the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Company Counties for any of the economic indicators included in this report. This report focused on changes that 51 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
were exhibited in economic indicators over the period from 2012 through 2014; over this two‐year period, minor but statistically insignificant differences were found in the change exhibited in the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties when compared to the change exhibited in the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Company Counties for all of the economic indicators analyzed in this study (Table 18 page 50). Theoretically, if the Mississippi Power Company rate increase was a causal factor in economic decline in the 23 counties it serves, then it would be anticipated that these negative effects would show evidence of increasing over time as the full impact of the rate increases took effect; therefore, it would be probable that negative effects would more likely to be observed during the period from 2013 to 2014 than during the period from 2012 to 2013. An examination of the data does not reveal this pattern (Table 18 page 50); for example, over the period from 2013 to 2014, the percentage rate of growth in the number of business establishments in the Mississippi Power Company Counties is slightly higher than that of the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties (0.17 percent as compared to 0.15 percent), these differences are statistically insignificant but are counterfactual to a finding of negative impact. Another example is the percentage rate of growth in total annual wages in the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties which increased from 1.87 percent over the period from 2012 to 2013 and then increased again by 2.52 percent over the period from 2013 to 2014; in addition, the percentage rate of growth in total annual wages of 2.52 percent in the Mississippi Power Counties exceeds that of the Non‐
Mississippi Power Counties (2.33 percent) during the period from 2013 to 2014. Although these differences are statistically insignificant, they provide further support for the statement that there is no evidence to support a finding that the utility rate increase by Mississippi Power Company negatively impacted the economies of the 23 counties it serves. It would also be anticipated that any negative economic causal effects of the rate increase would be reflected by relatively consistent patterns of change across all of the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties when these 23 counties were compared to one another (e.g. a consistent pattern of decline for a specific economic indicator or a consistent pattern of decline within one industry sector across all 23 counties – see example for the Retail Trade Sector provided in Appendix B) and/or when the Mississippi Power Counties were compared to the Non‐Mississippi Power Counties. Such consistent patterns of change were not found. As discussed within the body of this study, specific Mississippi Power Company Counties exhibited relatively high percentage rates of growth in the number of business establishments, employment, total annual wages, or average annual pay within the context of the growth rates exhibited by the 59 Non‐Mississippi Power Counties in the state of Mississippi, and there is no consistent pattern of change when individual Mississippi Power Counties are compared with one another. These between‐county differences provide further support for the finding of no evidence to support a conclusion that the rate increase by Mississippi Power Company is detrimentally impacting the economies of the 23 counties within the state of Mississippi.
52 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Appendix A: Additional Reference Maps LIII The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
This page intentionally left blank for purposes of formatting. LIV The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Number of Business Establishment by County 2014
Number of Establishments
Marshall
DeSoto
35 - 313
2,707
Tunica
314 - 673
289
674 - 1,564
356
Coahoma
358
Lee
Quitman
Pontotoc
Yalobusha
Sunflower
Clay
Webster
843
Leflore Carroll
Montgomery
134
Washington
385
192
226
149
Holmes
303
Humphreys
Sharkey
35 165
Issaquena
Yazoo
465
Madison
1,564
Oktibbeha
Choctaw
210
655
370
538 Grenada
567
®
Calhoun
311
835
Monroe
Chickasaw
207
219
Itawamba
2,438
506
Tallahatchie
1,312
491
1,162
673
Bolivar
Prentiss
495
Lafayette
649
150
Tishomingo
Union
Panola
396
Tippah
358
1,565 - 3,183
3,184 - 5,948
93
431
Tate
828 Alcorn
Benton
903
Attala
Winston
374
360
Lowndes
Noxubee
228
Leake
Neshoba
Kemper
313
548
148
3,183
Scott
Warren
1,105
Claiborne
Jefferson
137
Hinds
Rankin
5,948
3,790
Copiah
461
84
889
Adams
Simpson
Lincoln
791
139
Wilkinson
162
201
Pike
1,013
1,967
Jasper
Clarke
192
250
235
452
193
225
585
Wayne
Jones
168 Covington
Lawrence Jeff Davis
Marion
Amite
Lauderdale
353
Smith
341
Franklin
Newton
515
412
1,363
Forrest
Greene
1,355
Lamar
Walthall
1,916
Perry
148
163
George
Pearl River
806
288
Stone
Harrison
Hancock
4,451
358
Jackson
2,384
844
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Map 6: Number of Business Establishments by County 2914
LV The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Employment by County 2014
Employment
Marshall
DeSoto
205 - 6,347
51,529
Tunica
6,348 - 14,643
9,813 5,357
14,644 - 33,343
5,902
Coahoma
Pontotoc
11,830
Yalobusha
8,648
Leflore Carroll
1,106
5,006
1,985
2,515
Holmes
2,326
Humphreys
1,925
Oktibbeha
24,529
19,227
Lowndes
Sharkey
1,224
Issaquena
4,561
4,526
Yazoo
6,347
Winston
Attala
3,636
Madison
9,532
Clay
Webster
Montgomery
Choctaw
17,417
®
10,155
14,020
Monroe
5,534
3,305
Grenada
Sunflower
205
Calhoun
Itawamba
50,252
Chickasaw
2,984
3,064
11,584
Washington
6,043
Lee
Quitman
Tallahatchie
7,174
20,275
1,163
Bolivar
5,497
Tishomingo
Prentiss
9,890
Lafayette
10,733
8,288
58,806 - 119,276
13,291
Tippah
Union
Panola
33,344 - 58,805
1,316
5,883
Tate
Alcorn
Benton
Noxubee
2,484
Leake
Neshoba
Kemper
5,008
12,481
3,709
Scott
50,039
Warren
20,398
Claiborne
3,318
Jefferson
Hinds
Rankin
119,276
58,805
Copiah
7,075
1,346
Adams
Lauderdale
5,937
33,343
Smith
Jasper
Clarke
2,769
3,930
2,961
7,311
5,046
Lincoln
10,886
Simpson
Newton
13,140
Franklin
11,229
1,676
1,618 Covington
Lawrence Jeff Davis
2,411
Wilkinson
1,718
1,763
Pike
14,643
2,523
Walthall
Wayne
28,382
4,939
Forrest
Marion
Amite
Jones
7,610
17,920
Lamar 37,701
Greene
Perry
1,989
2,009
Pearl River
9,811
George
Stone
3,975
Harrison
Hancock
82,740
4,998
Jackson
49,221
13,021
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Map 7: Employment by County 2014 LVI The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Total Wages (in $1,000) by County 2014
Marshall
DeSoto
$1,687,912
Tunica
Tate
$294,960 $165,084
Prentiss
Union
Panola
$195,152
$753,639
Quitman
Lee
$1,807,160
$360,783
Tallahatchie
Yalobusha
$91,741
$94,007
$170,307
$96,528
$382,971$255,299
$315,348
$448,671
Leflore Carroll
$164,975
$57,684
$72,535
Choctaw
Holmes
$60,964
$567,730 Humphreys
Sharkey
$34,283
Issaquena
Attala
$104,499
Yazoo
$229,081
$72,047
$955,623
Lowndes
Winston
Neshoba
Leake
Madison
Oktibbeha
$655,140
$155,201
$135,858
$345,005
Clay
Webster
Montgomery
$31,375
Washington
Monroe
Chickasaw
Calhoun
Grenada
Sunflower
Itawamba
Pontotoc
$274,150 $32,443
Bolivar
$210,373
$375,969
Lafayette
$356,747
Coahoma
Alcorn
Benton
$196,274$40,413 Tippah $439,394 Tishomingo
$177,078
$165,691
Noxubee
$70,928
Kemper
$141,015 $420,872
$201,046
$4,538
®
$2,111,063
Warren
$819,292
$5,204,040
Newton
Scott
Rankin
Hinds
$2,181,973
Claiborne
Copiah
$197,138
$155,811 Jones
$48,288 Covington $1,082,926
$37,832
Lincoln
Adams
$359,693
Franklin
$379,860
$57,244
Wilkinson
$49,686
$56,892
Wayne
$165,030
Lawrence Jeff Davis
$103,455
Marion
Amite
$93,078
$99,328 $139,792
Simpson
$233,915
Jefferson
Clarke
Jasper
Smith
$166,034
Lauderdale
$403,254 $176,584 $1,170,840
Forrest
Greene
$1,426,635
$253,842 Lamar
Pike $73,303
$513,733
$445,886Walthall
Pearl River
Total Wages
$309,757
Perry
$78,309
George
Stone
$124,811
$4,538.00 - $100,000.00
Harrison
$100,000.01 - $250,000.00
Hancock
$250,000.01 - $500,000.00
$606,460
$57,000
$171,002
Jackson
$3,012,614 $2,363,445
$500,000.01 - $1,000,000.00
$1,000,000.01 - $5,204,040.00
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Map 8: Total Annual Wages by County 2014 LVII The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Number of Personal Income Tax Returns Filed 2014
Number of
Personal Income
Tax Returns
Marshall
DeSoto
61,213
Tunica
3,839 9,509
355 - 4,987
4,988 - 11,027
7,929
Coahoma
23,281 - 48,204
48,205 - 90,928
Pontotoc
10,535
Yalobusha
8,261
7,556
Leflore Carroll
2,898
6,952
3,278
3,902
2,624
Oktibbeha
20,548
14,757
Lowndes
Choctaw
16,949
Holmes
2,712
Humphreys
Sharkey
1,335
Issaquena
®
Montgomery
6,230
6,394
Yazoo
7,423
Winston
Attala
6,227
Madison
12,067
Clay
Webster
9,776
Monroe
6,780
4,873
Grenada
Sunflower
355
Calhoun
Itawamba
34,396
Chickasaw
4,987
4,070
11,696
Washington
7,285
Lee
Quitman
Tallahatchie
8,756
15,670
2,327
Bolivar
6,689
Tishomingo
Prentiss
9,691
Lafayette
12,043
8,135
11,730
Tippah
Union
Panola
11,028 - 23,280
2,357
12,506
Tate
Alcorn
Benton
Noxubee
3,615
Leake
Neshoba
Kemper
7,193
9,233
2,963
39,090
Warren
17,411
Claiborne
2,566
Jefferson
Hinds
Rankin
90,928
54,419
Copiah
10,028
2,302
Adams
Newton
Lauderdale
7,014
27,834
Smith
Jasper
Clarke
4,848
5,728
5,682
9,027
6,574
Lincoln
11,027
Simpson
Scott
9,425
Franklin
11,681
2,812
4,121 Covington
Lawrence Jeff Davis
4,649
Wilkinson
2,316
3,764
Pike
14,059
4,633
Walthall
Wayne
23,280
6,890
Forrest
Marion
Amite
Jones
8,792
17,304
Lamar 30,981
Greene
Perry
3,246
3,804
Pearl River
16,901
George
Stone
5,653
Harrison
Hancock
68,832
8,078
Jackson
48,204
14,536
Source: Mississippi Department of Revenue
Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2014
Map 9: Number of Personal Income Tax Returns Filed in 2014 by County LVIII The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Average Annual Pay by County 2014
Average Annual Pay
$22,146.00 - $29,066.00
Tunica
$29,066.01 - $31,574.00
$30,058
DeSoto
Marshall
$32,756
$33,365 $30,719 Tippah $33,060 Tishomingo
$30,001
Prentiss $30,143
Union
$29,326
$38,013
Lafayette
$32,294
$37,171
Tate
$30,814
$31,574.01 - $35,115.00
Panola
$35,115.01 - $42,188.00
$33,239
$42,188.01 - $54,199.00 Coahoma
Lee
Quitman
Pontotoc
$33,076 $27,886
$30,497
Tallahatchie
Yalobusha
$29,939
$31,507
Bolivar
Sunflower
$29,520
$31,052
$32,001
Leflore Carroll
$32,956
$29,066
$28,840
Choctaw
Holmes
$32,597 $26,209
Humphreys
Sharkey
$28,021
Issaquena
®
Attala
$28,740
Yazoo
$36,093
$22,146
$37,421
Madison
Lowndes
Winston
Noxubee
$28,558
Leake
Neshoba
Kemper
$28,158
$33,721
$54,199
Scott
$40,165
Hinds
Rankin
$43,630
$37,105
$30,688
$50,042
Copiah
$34,155
$29,847 Covington
Lawrence Jeff Davis
Wilkinson
$28,929
$32,267
Clarke
$31,436
$38,156
Wayne
$33,415
$33,828 $42,918
Forrest
Marion
Amite
Jones
$30,880
Lincoln
$35,115
$26,965
$28,117
Franklin
Lauderdale
$35,875 $35,569
Simpson
$33,063
Jefferson
Newton
$29,744
Jasper
Smith
Claiborne
Adams
$38,959
$34,073
$42,188
Warren
$33,043
Oktibbeha
$34,032
$30,016
$36,193
Clay
Webster
Montgomery
$28,380
Monroe
$30,773
Grenada
Itawamba
$35,962
Chickasaw
Calhoun
$29,206
$33,060
Washington
Alcorn
Benton
Greene
$28,668
$33,356 Lamar
$37,840 Perry $28,658
Pike $29,059
$30,450Walthall
$38,984
Pearl River
Statewide Average Annual Pay
Minimum: $22,146
Maximum: $54,199
Mean: $33,368
Median: $32,445
Standard Deviation: $5,376
$31,574
George
Stone
$31,397
Harrison
Hancock
$36,411
$34,215
Jackson
$48,017
$46,576
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Map 10: Average Annual Pay by County 2014 LIX The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
This page intentionally left blank for purposes of formatting. LX The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Appendix B: Comparing Retail Trade Sector Employment Change in 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties LXI Figure 21: Retail Trade Sector Employment in Mississippi Power Counties 2001 to 2014
LXII The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
A Closer Look at the Retail Trade Sector: the Unique Characteristics of
County-Level Economies
As stated within the body of this study, there was no evidence to support a finding that the retail
utility rate increase by Mississippi Power Company is negatively impacting economic growth across
the 23 counties served by Mississippi Power Company. In addition to the analysis presented in the
body of this study, the Stennis Institute Research Team further examined the data from the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages for selected industries to
determine if there might be underlying patterns of negative economic effects among specific
industry sectors that may have remained unobserved during the data analysis presented in the body
of this study. Although multiple industry sectors were examined by the Research Team, the
presentation of these industry sector findings were not included in this report for the following
reasons:




the findings were generally redundant across industry sectors;
the figures and tables associated with this analysis are not easily formatted for high resolution to
a standard page size of 8.5” x 11;”
inclusion of this analysis would have increased the length of the completed study to
approximately 300 pages; and
the presentation of industry sector analysis would not change the findings presented in the body
of this report
For purposes of illustration, this appendix provides an example of the change in employment in the
Retail Trade Sector across the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties. If the utility rate increase
by Mississippi Power Company was negatively impacting economic growth across the 23 counties
that it serves, one effect that would be anticipated is a decline in employment or slowing of growth
in employment during the period from 2012 to 2014. It would also be anticipated that the impact of
the rate increases would be more pronounced over the period from 2013 to 2014 when compared to
the period from 2012 to 2013 because the retail rate increase of 13 percent took effect on March 19,
2013 and then increased by an additional 3 percent effective January 1, 2014; therefore, employment
data for 2014 would more fully capture the total effect of the retail rate increases on the economies
of the 23 Mississippi Power Counties. Another expectation would be a lower rate of employment
growth in the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties when compared to the rate of employment
growth in the 59 Non-Mississippi Power Company Counties, and that this difference would become
more pronounced over the period from 2013 to 2014 when compared to the period from 2012 to
2013. Additionally, if the utility rate increase by Mississippi Power Company was negatively
impacting economic growth across the 23 counties that it serves, it would be anticipated that these
effects would be exhibited across all of the 23 counties and that a consistent pattern of change
would be observed across all counties within a specific industry. Examination of the ratio of
employment in the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties as a percent of total employment in the
state of Mississippi contributes to the illumination of comparative negative economic effects if this
ratio is declining over time. Across the Mississippi Power Counties, employment in the Retail Trade
Sector increased by 700, from 45,270 in 2012 to 45,970 in 2014 (Figure 21, page LXII).
LXIII Figure 22: Percent Change in Retail Trade Sector Employment 2001 to 2014
LXIV The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
When employment growth in the Retail Trade Sector in the 23 Mississippi Power Company
Counties is compared to employment growth in the 59 Non-Mississippi Power Company Counties,
the data exhibit the following characteristics (Figure 22, page LXIV):
 Over the period from 2007 through 2012, the annual percentage growth rate of employment in
the Non-Mississippi Power Company Counties outperformed that of the Mississippi Power
Company Counties; the percentage rate of increase has been higher and the percentage rate of
decrease has been lower in the Non-Mississippi Power Counties as compared to the Mississippi
Power Counties
 In the period just prior to the rate increase — 2011 to 2012 — employment in the Mississippi
Power Counties declined by 0.53 percent; during the same period, employment in the NonMississippi Power Counties increased by 0.73 percent
 In the one-year period following the rate increase — 2012 to 2013 — employment in the Retail
Trade Sector increase by 0.22 percent in the 23 Mississippi Power Counties; during the same
period, employment in the Non-Mississippi Power Counties showed no change
 From 2013 to 2014, employment in the Retail Trade Sector increased by 1.32 percent in the
Mississippi Power Counties as compared to an increase of 1.36 percent in the Non-Mississippi
Power Counties, this represented a difference of 0.04 percent
 Over the period from 2012 to 2014, employment in the Retail Trade Sector increased by 1.55
percent in the Mississippi Power Counties as compared to an increase of 1.36 percent in the
Non-Mississippi Power Counties, indicating the percentage rate of employment growth in the
Mississippi Power Counties exceed that of the Non-Mississippi Power Counties over the period
With total employment of 45,970 in the Retail Trade Sector in 2014, the 23 Mississippi Power
Counties represented 33.95
percent of total Retail Trade
Sector employment in the state
of Mississippi, this represented a
slight increase of 0.04 percent in
the Mississippi Power Counties’
ratio of total state employment in
2012 (Figure 23, at right). As
shown in Figure 23, at right, the
Mississippi Power Company
Counties’ ratio of Retail Trade
Sector employment has exhibited
a decline every year in the period
from 2008 through 2012 and
those declines have been steeper
than the 0.01 percent decline that
Figure 23: Employment in the Retail Trade Sector in Mississippi Power Counties was experienced over the period expressed as a Percent of Total Retail Trade Sector Employment Statewide 2001 to from 2013 to 2014.
2014
LXV Table 19: Employment in the Retail Trade Sector 2012 to 2014 190
220
200
220
360
360
490
590
670
770
830
920
1,150
1,230
1,490
1,520
1,890
2,840
4,160
4,460
4,730
5,140
10,940
45,370
88,230
190
220
210
220
360
370
460
590
680
750
850
920
1,150
1,260
1,460
1,430
1,900
2,920
4,150
4,400
4,760
5,150
10,870
45,270
88,230
89,430
45,970
210
220
220
250
340
350
520
600
640
750
840
980
1,180
1,280
1,490
1,510
1,990
2,830
4,050
4,640
4,720
5,230
11,130
0
100
0
0
(10)
0
0
(10)
30
0
(10)
20
(20)
0
0
(30)
30
90
(10)
(80)
10
60
(30)
(10)
70
0.00%
0.22%
0.00%
0.00%
‐4.76%
0.00%
0.00%
‐2.70%
6.52%
0.00%
‐1.47%
2.67%
‐2.35%
0.00%
0.00%
‐2.38%
2.05%
6.29%
‐0.53%
‐2.74%
0.24%
1.36%
‐0.63%
‐0.19%
0.64%
1,200
600
20
0
20
30
(20)
(10)
30
10
(30)
(20)
10
60
30
50
0
(10)
100
(10)
(110)
180
(10)
90
190
1.36%
1.32%
10.53%
0.00%
10.00%
13.64%
‐5.56%
‐2.78%
6.12%
1.69%
‐4.48%
‐2.60%
1.20%
6.52%
2.61%
4.07%
0.00%
‐0.66%
5.29%
‐0.35%
‐2.64%
4.04%
‐0.21%
1.75%
1.74%
1,200
700
20
0
10
30
(20)
(20)
60
10
(40)
0
(10)
60
30
20
30
80
90
(90)
(100)
240
(40)
80
260
LXVI 1.36%
1.55%
10.53%
0.00%
4.76%
13.64%
‐5.56%
‐5.41%
13.04%
1.69%
‐5.88%
0.00%
‐1.18%
6.52%
2.61%
1.59%
2.05%
5.59%
4.74%
‐3.08%
‐2.41%
5.45%
‐0.84%
1.55%
2.39%
Employment Employment Employment Change 2012 Percent Change Change 2013 Percent Change Change 2012 Percent Change 2012
2013
2014
to 2013
2012 to 2013
to 2014
2013 to 2014
to 2014
2012 to 2014
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Greene
Jefferson Davis
Smith
Perry
Jasper
Clarke
Covington
Stone
Newton
Leake
Wayne
George
Scott
Marion
Neshoba
Hancock
Pearl River
Jones
Forrest
Lamar
Jackson
Lauderdale
Harrison
Total Mississippi Power Counties
Total Non‐Mississippi Power Counties
County
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
From 2012 to 2014, employment in the Retail Trade Sector increased by 700 in the 23 Mississippi
Power Company Counties, this represented an increase of 1.55 percent; during the same period,
employment increased by 1,200 in the Non-Mississippi Power Company Counties, an increase of
1.36 percent (Table 19, page LXVI). This indicates that the percentage rate of employment increase
in the Retail Trade Sector was 0.19 percent higher in the Mississippi Power Company Counties
when compared to the percentage rate of increase in employment in the Non-Mississippi Power
Counties. For the Mississippi Power Company Counties, the rate of increase in employment
accelerated over the period from 2013 to 2014 as compared to the period from 2012 to 2013,
increasing by 0.22 percent from 2012 to 2013 and by 1.32 percent from 2013 to 2014 (Table 19,
page LXVI).
When employment in the Retail Trade Sector is analyzed at the county level for the 23 Mississippi
Power Company Counties over the period from 2012 to 2014, there are between-county difference
in the patterns of change in employment. As shown in Table 19, on page LXVI, there are relatively
large between-county differences in the change in Retail Trade Sector employment and this change
in employment varies depending upon the time period examined. For example, Lamar County
experienced employment increases in the Retail Trade Sector over the period from 2012 to 2013 and
over the period from 2013 to 2014; with a net increase in Retail Trade employment of 240 over the
period from 2012 to 2014, Lamar County’s employment in the Retail Trade Sector increase by 5.45
percent. Pearl River County’s employment in the Retail Trade Sector declined by 10 over the period
from 2012 to 2013 and then increased by 100 over the period from 2013 to 2014, netting an increase
of 4.74 percent in Retail Trade Sector employment from 2012 to 2014 (Table 19, page LXVI).
Generally, the number and percentage of counties that exhibit an increase in employment is greater
over the period from 2013 to 2014 when compared with the period from 2012 to 2013; from 2013
to 2014, the number of counties experiencing a decrease or no growth in employment also declines
(Table 20, below). For example, 13 of the 23 Mississippi Power Counties (56.5 percent) exhibit an
increase in employment from 2013 to 2014 as compared to 7 counties (30.4 percent) over the period
from 2012 to 2013. When employment growth in the Retail Trade Sector is analyzed over the
period from 2012 to 2014, 60.9 percent of the Mississippi Power Company Counties exhibit an
increase in employment, 30.4 percent exhibit a decrease in employment, and 8.7 percent experienced
no change in employment over the period.
Table 20: Change in Retail Trade Sector Employment in 23 Mississippi Power Counties 2012 to 2014 Percent of Percent of Percent of Change 2012 Change 2013 Change 2012 Total 2012 Total 2013 to Total 2012 to to 2013
to 2014
to 1014
to 2013
2014
2014
Counties with an Increase in Employment
Counties with a Decrease in Employment
Counties with No Change in Employment
Total
7
30.43%
13
56.52%
14
60.87%
9
39.13%
8
34.78%
7
30.43%
7
30.43%
2
8.70%
2
8.70%
23
100.00%
23
100.00%
23
100.00%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
LXVII The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Figure 24: Mississippi Power Counties with Retail Trade Sector Employment of 350 or Less in 2014 Figure 25: Mississippi Power Counties with Retail Trade Sector Employment between 520 and 980 in 2014 LXVIII The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Over the period from 2012 to 2014, employment in the Retail Trade Sector increased by 700 in the
23 Mississippi Power Company Counties, this represented 58.3 percent of the total increase in Retail
Trade Sector employment in the state of Mississippi. Within the 23 Mississippi Power Company
Counties, 60.87 percent of the counties exhibited an increase in Retail Trade Sector employment.
The patterns of between-county employment change in the Retail Trade Sector exhibit no
consistent, negative pattern across the 23 counties and provide no evidence to indicate that a
relationship may exist between the retail rate increase by the Mississippi Power Company and a
decline in employment in the Retail Trade Sector (Table 19, on page LXVI and Table 20, on page
LXVII).
Figure 24 and Figure 25, on page LXVIII and Figure 26 and Figure 27 on page LXX provide
longitudinal Retail Trade Sector employment data over the period from 2001 to 2014 for the 23
Mississippi Power Company Counties. An examination of historical employment trends in the
Retail Trade Sector provides additional insight into patterns of employment within the 23
Mississippi Power Company Counties. One pattern that emerges for specific counties is a long-term
decline of employment in the Retail Trade Sector that commenced prior to 2013 and continued
through 2014; this pattern was most commonly observed in the counties that exhibited no growth or
a decline in Retail Trade Sector employment in Table 19, on page LXVI. See for example, Jasper
and Clarke counties (Figure 24, page LXVIII), Jones County (Figure 26, page LXX), and Forrest and
Jackson counties (Figure 27, page LXX). Another pattern that emerges for specific counties is one
of decline or no growth of employment in the Retail Trade Sector originating prior to 2013 and then
beginning to exhibit an increase over the period from 2013 to 2014; see for example, Greene, Smith,
and Perry counties (Figure 24, page LXVIII), Covington, Stone, and Wayne counties (Figure 25,
page LXVIII), Scott, Marion, and Pearl River counties (Figure 26, page LXX), and Lauderdale
County (Figure 27, LXX). Additional data for the annual percentage rate of employment change in
the Retail Trade Sector for each of the 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties is provide in Table
21, on page LXXI. The absence of consistent, negative patterns of employment change in the Retail
Trade Sector that would be indicative of negative economic effects across all 23 Mississippi Power
Company Counties over the period from 2012 to 2014 reinforce the findings that are discussed in
the body of this report.
LXIX The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Figure 26: Mississippi Power Company Counties with Retail Trade Sector Employment between 1,180 and 2,830 in 2014 Figure 27: Mississippi Power Company Counties with Retail Trade Sector Employment between 4,050 and 11,130 in 2014 LXX ‐0.36%
1.05%
‐0.82%
‐1.41%
3.71%
‐0.34%
0.83%
‐0.93%
‐2.90%
‐4.23%
‐4.86%
‐0.37%
‐1.05%
0.63%
0.33%
0.73%
‐0.53%
0.00%
0.22%
LXXI 1.36%
1.32%
Percentage Change in Retail Trade Sector Employment 2001 through 2014
2001 ‐ 2012 2002 ‐ 2003 2003 ‐ 2004 2004 ‐ 2005 2005 to 2006 2006 ‐ 2007 2007 ‐ 2008 2008 ‐ 2009 2009 ‐ 2010 2010 ‐ 2011 2011 ‐ 2012 2012 ‐ 2013 2013 ‐ 2014
0.00%
0.00%
3.23%
3.13%
6.06%
‐2.86%
11.76%
‐2.63%
‐2.70%
0.00%
2.78%
‐2.70%
‐2.78%
11.36%
2.04%
‐4.00%
‐2.08%
4.26%
2.04%
4.00%
1.92%
‐1.89%
‐3.85%
‐8.00%
6.52%
6.12%
3.09%
4.28%
‐1.23%
‐1.04%
6.09%
‐3.76%
‐8.23%
‐4.71%
‐1.41%
0.24%
‐1.19%
0.24%
‐2.64%
8.67%
7.98%
‐6.82%
2.44%
7.14%
‐5.56%
0.00%
‐1.18%
1.19%
5.88%
2.22%
0.00%
6.52%
10.00%
‐9.09%
5.00%
4.76%
0.00%
‐9.09%
‐5.00%
‐10.53%
5.88%
5.56%
0.00%
0.00%
10.53%
0.00%
1.81%
‐1.18%
‐18.56%
‐2.94%
23.48%
‐6.13%
‐7.19%
‐7.04%
2.27%
5.93%
6.29%
‐0.66%
‐1.59%
3.24%
0.66%
‐7.22%
0.80%
0.79%
‐3.48%
‐4.69%
1.89%
1.21%
‐0.28%
0.64%
1.74%
‐9.02%
‐4.62%
‐5.56%
‐1.33%
4.62%
0.00%
‐3.13%
‐6.45%
‐3.45%
1.26%
‐1.24%
‐0.63%
‐0.21%
‐2.22%
0.00%
‐2.27%
‐4.65%
4.88%
‐2.33%
‐2.38%
0.00%
‐2.44%
‐5.00%
‐5.26%
0.00%
‐5.56%
‐23.53%
19.23%
‐3.23%
10.00%
0.00%
3.03%
0.00%
‐5.88%
‐15.63%
‐14.81%
‐4.35%
0.00%
0.00%
‐4.24%
‐0.63%
1.27%
3.77%
1.52%
0.30%
‐3.57%
‐7.10%
‐1.99%
1.36%
‐2.34%
‐2.74%
‐0.35%
‐4.92%
‐0.97%
6.21%
13.85%
13.51%
6.19%
1.12%
‐5.10%
‐0.47%
1.17%
2.09%
1.36%
4.04%
9.64%
1.72%
‐2.54%
‐1.57%
0.18%
1.41%
‐1.22%
‐6.16%
‐0.75%
‐2.84%
0.19%
‐0.19%
1.75%
‐5.95%
‐7.59%
‐1.37%
5.56%
1.32%
‐2.60%
‐1.33%
4.05%
‐2.60%
‐1.33%
1.35%
2.67%
‐2.60%
‐1.85%
9.43%
3.45%
0.83%
7.44%
0.77%
‐0.76%
‐4.62%
0.81%
3.20%
‐2.33%
‐2.38%
4.07%
‐2.17%
‐0.74%
‐1.49%
3.79%
6.57%
‐1.37%
0.69%
‐2.07%
2.11%
2.07%
‐1.35%
2.05%
0.00%
0.00%
‐6.10%
11.69%
‐1.16%
‐2.35%
‐9.64%
‐6.67%
‐1.43%
‐1.45%
‐2.94%
3.03%
‐1.47%
‐4.48%
1.39%
‐1.83%
‐3.26%
1.44%
11.37%
‐0.43%
‐5.98%
‐6.82%
‐4.88%
‐1.54%
‐1.04%
‐0.53%
5.29%
3.33%
‐3.23%
6.67%
‐6.25%
‐6.67%
‐10.71%
4.00%
3.85%
‐7.41%
‐8.00%
‐4.35%
0.00%
13.64%
1.71%
‐0.84%
‐1.69%
0.86%
3.42%
7.44%
0.77%
‐3.05%
‐4.72%
‐2.48%
‐2.54%
0.00%
2.61%
0.00%
‐7.14%
‐15.38%
0.00%
4.55%
0.00%
‐4.35%
‐4.55%
4.76%
0.00%
‐4.55%
‐4.76%
10.00%
37.14%
27.08%
‐3.28%
3.39%
8.20%
1.52%
‐7.46%
‐1.61%
0.00%
4.92%
‐7.81%
0.00%
1.69%
11.58%
‐1.89%
‐5.77%
‐2.04%
1.04%
‐3.09%
‐3.19%
‐3.30%
‐1.14%
1.15%
‐3.41%
‐2.35%
1.20%
Average Across Non‐
Mississippi Power ‐1.84%
‐2.61%
0.45%
0.75%
1.81%
Counties
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Average Across Mississippi Power Company Counties
Area
Clarke
Covington
Forrest
George
Greene
Hancock
Harrison
Jackson
Jasper
Jeff Davis
Jones
Lamar
Lauderdale
Leake
Marion
Neshoba
Newton
Pearl River
Perry
Scott
Smith
Stone
Wayne
Table 21: Annual Percentage Change in Retail Trade Sector Employment for 23 Mississippi Power Company Counties 2001 through 2014 The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
This page intentionally left blank for purposes of formatting. LXXII The Economic Impact of Utility Rate Increases in 23 Mississippi Counties
Appendix C: Data Used in this Study This appendix contains a copy of the data that was used to conduct this study; a copy of this report is available on the Stennis Institute of Government’s website at http://www.sig.msstate.edu/ in .pdf format where the pages may be magnified for easier viewing of the data. LXXIV County
Adams
Alcorn
Amite
Attala
Benton
Bolivar
Calhoun
Carroll
Chickasaw
Choctaw
Claiborne
Clarke
Clay
Coahoma
Copiah
Covington
DeSoto
Forrest
Franklin
George
Greene
Grenada
Hancock
Harrison
Hinds
Holmes
Humphreys
Issaquena
Itawamba
Jackson
Jasper
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson
Jones
Kemper
Lafayette
Lamar
Lauderdale
Lawrence
Leake
Lee
2004
14,900
11,618
24,241
40,521
7,620
6,107
10,926
2,879
14,291
6,423
3,234
16,749
10,213
9,465
2,392
15,101
11,253
8,123
1,786
50,365
11,744
1,426
7,344
3,377
3,811
9,953
2,912
5,892
7,057
5,605
15,841
8,285
2,806
23,693
20,920
5,347
2,110
1,979
5,123
2,951
5,946
2005
15,161
11,919
24,273
41,568
7,496
6,245
11,034
2,814
14,682
6,413
3,044
17,411
10,560
9,510
2,372
15,308
11,664
7,751
1,786
52,247
12,263
1,408
7,620
3,337
3,977
10,122
2,957
5,754
7,266
5,611
15,575
8,571
2,866
23,718
20,042
5,426
2,245
1,915
5,308
2,727
5,845
2006
15,649
12,051
25,349
42,551
7,769
6,178
10,684
2,586
14,636
6,449
2,959
17,854
10,982
10,143
2,384
15,684
12,005
7,805
1,728
54,827
12,446
1,371
7,411
3,294
4,249
10,476
2,853
5,692
7,221
5,956
15,787
8,559
2,958
23,779
19,633
5,462
2,134
1,878
5,448
2,816
5,887
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014 County
11,617 11,617 12,116 12,203 12,297 11,471 11,041 11,015 10,784 10,776 10,886 Leflore
13,157 13,483 13,195 13,242 12,979 12,377 12,469 12,569 13,023 13,126 13,291 Lincoln
1,814
1,888
2,167
2,211
2,106
1,736
1,687
1,677
1,601
1,624
1,763 Lowndes
5,434
5,378
5,287
5,212
5,066
4,645
4,612
4,649
4,609
4,571
4,526 Madison
1,188
1,279
1,292
1,227
1,177
1,138
1,208
1,302
1,318
1,318
1,316 Marion
11,848 11,959 12,521 12,522 12,209 11,862 12,176 12,038 11,842 11,737 11,584 Marshall
3,643
3,618
3,521
3,401
3,317
3,310
3,489
3,508
3,411
3,315
3,305 Monroe
1,089
1,177
1,163
1,183
1,166
1,045
1,049
1,109
1,169
1,097
1,106 Montgome
6,415
6,334
6,328
5,951
5,666
5,598
5,925
6,073
6,015
5,821
5,534 Neshoba
2,052
2,063
1,947
1,954
1,885
1,803
1,776
1,820
1,863
2,030
1,925 Newton
3,413
3,276
3,145
3,148
3,223
3,228
3,397
3,495
4,116
3,196
3,318 Noxubee
2,880
2,834
2,954
3,005
3,055
3,049
2,917
2,983
3,149
3,062
2,961 Oktibbeha
7,446
7,115
6,799
6,051
5,542
5,174
5,049
4,988
5,074
5,013
5,006 Panola
9,491
9,417
9,220
8,949
8,736
8,473
8,497
8,446
8,368
8,291
8,288 Pearl River
7,642
7,696
7,872
7,776
7,929
7,563
7,107
7,519
7,137
7,070
7,075 Perry
5,146
5,052
4,912
5,128
5,118
4,999
4,861
4,980
5,026
4,966
5,046 Pike
37,442 39,897 43,189 46,156 45,769 43,721 44,427 45,326 47,417 48,563 51,529 Pontotoc
35,038 35,986 37,251 37,132 36,581 36,358 36,085 35,723 36,604 36,798 37,701 Prentiss
1,633
1,686
1,765
1,739
1,673
1,629
1,708
1,682
1,660
1,663
1,676 Quitman
4,082
4,408
4,372
4,500
4,852
4,497
4,204
4,269
4,414
4,489
4,998 Rankin
1,931
1,944
2,115
2,064
2,005
1,958
1,962
1,965
1,969
2,019
1,989 Scott
10,709 10,837 10,749 10,454 10,366
9,306
9,390
9,561
9,753
9,886 10,155 Sharkey
13,470 12,790 11,693 13,427 13,661 13,721 13,610 13,353 13,309 13,204 13,021 Simpson
89,631 86,148 79,241 86,123 86,248 83,646 81,954 82,503 82,584 82,878 82,740 Smith
129,758 127,413 128,160 128,112 127,253 124,849 122,548 121,967 120,510 119,836 119,276 Stone
3,780
4,008
4,325
4,288
4,133
3,749
3,719
3,730
3,714
3,612
3,636 Sunflower
3,343
3,299
3,208
3,358
3,342
3,229
3,166
2,984
2,785
2,902
2,326 Tallahatchi
290
274
268
304
298
327
296
256
242
209
205 Tate
5,229
5,554
5,660
5,750
5,684
5,231
5,152
5,415
5,697
5,684
6,043 Tippah
46,995 47,840 48,381 49,617 51,726 50,858 51,511 48,336 47,974 49,239 49,221 Tishomingo
4,004
4,077
4,259
4,282
4,318
4,273
4,511
4,246
4,280
4,124
3,930 Tunica
2,114
2,170
2,069
2,057
2,364
1,977
1,752
1,683
1,649
1,581
1,618 Union
1,130
1,098
1,123
1,142
1,144
1,150
1,224
1,238
1,294
1,306
1,346 Walthall
27,101 28,427 30,320 30,479 29,643 27,895 26,991 27,823 28,248 28,086 28,382 Warren
1,765
1,789
1,704
1,671
1,670
1,666
1,654
2,071
3,244
5,103
3,709 Washingto
16,117 17,097 18,066 18,410 18,426 17,587 17,448 18,069 18,952 19,577 20,275 Wayne
13,669 14,280 16,470 18,168 18,259 17,299 17,182 17,127 17,590 17,934 17,920 Webster
35,315 35,711 36,189 36,276 36,104 34,114 33,519 33,355 33,315 33,400 33,343 Wilkinson
2,782
2,658
2,670
2,738
2,881
2,747
2,664
2,492
2,526
2,518
2,411 Winston
5,972
5,802
5,521
5,478
5,763
5,842
5,663
5,221
5,047
5,084
5,008 Yalobusha
49,870 50,286 50,425 49,917 50,229 47,575 48,370 48,952 50,465 50,536 50,252 Yazoo
Employment Data
2007
15,946
11,832
25,766
42,597
7,722
6,259
10,531
2,534
14,133
6,452
2,840
17,813
11,020
10,744
2,375
15,496
11,458
7,705
1,650
56,492
12,508
1,370
7,592
3,246
4,312
10,012
2,767
5,645
7,102
5,728
15,455
8,792
3,021
23,316
19,790
5,567
2,162
1,915
5,581
2,839
6,077
2008
15,406
11,549
25,425
42,185
7,700
6,152
9,826
2,583
14,209
6,196
2,623
18,486
10,721
10,416
2,264
15,801
10,693
7,739
1,524
56,938
12,815
1,318
7,439
2,982
4,279
9,690
2,725
5,554
6,340
5,629
14,587
8,857
2,979
23,666
19,866
5,425
2,119
2,016
5,485
2,926
5,978
2009
14,636
10,985
24,205
40,740
7,549
5,888
9,331
2,589
13,021
5,851
2,449
17,804
10,442
9,991
2,074
15,016
10,275
7,174
1,394
54,741
12,938
1,270
7,259
2,858
4,124
9,378
2,712
5,395
5,702
5,173
13,014
8,379
2,715
21,989
18,575
5,092
2,075
2,184
4,621
2,852
5,877
2010
14,329
10,803
23,639
42,404
7,428
5,986
9,505
2,627
12,645
5,755
2,501
17,296
10,888
9,674
2,053
14,573
10,711
7,104
1,341
54,404
13,177
1,286
7,405
2,796
4,043
9,008
2,774
5,418
5,650
5,060
12,266
7,901
2,704
21,508
18,329
5,106
2,137
2,271
4,413
3,042
6,085
2011
13,973
10,880
24,324
44,376
7,691
5,857
9,394
2,582
12,655
5,789
2,439
17,761
10,784
9,814
2,021
14,311
10,865
7,046
1,246
54,455
12,728
1,236
7,415
2,772
4,072
8,865
2,834
5,421
5,665
5,129
11,581
8,901
2,633
20,955
18,122
5,102
2,099
2,204
4,552
3,088
6,106
2012
13,886
10,938
25,355
46,635
7,357
5,716
9,295
2,570
12,717
5,917
2,443
18,357
10,764
9,898
2,011
14,399
11,210
7,098
1,238
55,848
12,534
1,239
7,406
2,715
3,906
8,881
2,779
5,414
5,646
5,222
11,312
9,674
2,599
20,618
17,722
5,055
2,060
2,066
4,588
3,246
6,084
2013
13,762
11,084
25,681
48,644
7,401
5,641
9,106
2,576
12,334
5,889
2,447
18,709
10,622
9,882
1,985
14,421
11,408
7,015
1,199
56,765
12,837
1,236
7,331
2,752
3,939
8,750
2,926
5,373
5,668
5,376
10,855
9,807
2,560
20,650
17,516
4,862
2,019
1,844
4,599
3,002
6,189
2014
14,020
11,229
24,529
50,039
7,610
5,883
9,532
2,515
12,481
5,937
2,484
19,227
10,733
9,811
2,009
14,643
11,830
7,174
1,163
58,805
13,140
1,224
7,311
2,769
3,975
8,648
3,064
5,357
5,902
5,497
9,813
9,890
2,523
20,398
17,417
4,939
1,985
1,718
4,561
2,984
6,347
County
Adams
Alcorn
Amite
Attala
Benton
Bolivar
Calhoun
Carroll
Chickasaw
Choctaw
Claiborne
Clarke
Clay
Coahoma
Copiah
Covington
DeSoto
Forrest
Franklin
George
Greene
Grenada
Hancock
Harrison
Hinds
Holmes
Humphreys
Issaquena
Itawamba
Jackson
Jasper
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson
Jones
Kemper
Lafayette
Lamar
Lauderdale
Lawrence
Leake
Lee
2004
$287,988
$357,081
$42,716
$122,689
$30,067
$299,788
$81,658
$23,431
$159,359
$58,335
$144,781
$65,179
$204,078
$248,133
$184,204
$114,218
$1,026,927
$1,025,415
$42,263
$95,688
$44,568
$290,302
$476,141
$2,512,014
$4,474,109
$89,715
$65,142
$5,982
$130,941
$1,555,278
$101,782
$46,961
$25,389
$747,838
$37,882
$463,000
$325,252
$991,038
$93,899
$124,803
$1,577,556
2005
$305,136
$370,390
$46,231
$125,214
$33,803
$310,604
$83,966
$26,597
$159,738
$61,168
$144,633
$66,182
$196,211
$261,294
$190,820
$120,125
$1,133,579
$1,081,535
$45,611
$112,595
$45,500
$295,798
$498,740
$2,658,723
$4,533,727
$99,963
$67,315
$5,781
$147,731
$1,702,235
$110,177
$50,734
$25,468
$823,800
$40,057
$514,001
$345,096
$1,021,366
$102,415
$131,147
$1,592,058
2006
$344,471
$374,493
$57,537
$128,828
$35,334
$340,705
$84,350
$27,933
$164,377
$56,705
$142,206
$74,085
$202,187
$257,263
$198,107
$124,879
$1,248,548
$1,194,198
$49,863
$114,759
$52,097
$310,922
$510,154
$2,674,282
$4,771,297
$108,591
$67,958
$5,424
$154,706
$1,799,457
$120,950
$52,946
$26,680
$909,222
$40,350
$561,428
$409,768
$1,070,163
$99,391
$131,101
$1,612,497
2007
$359,602
$388,491
$61,239
$134,169
$34,488
$394,622
$84,151
$28,941
$154,927
$58,373
$146,882
$80,325
$184,546
$257,746
$201,336
$134,959
$1,366,282
$1,238,326
$49,634
$124,394
$55,502
$297,651
$561,752
$2,948,057
$4,940,918
$113,606
$73,359
$6,157
$164,827
$1,993,276
$126,737
$55,942
$28,891
$958,497
$42,178
$596,231
$450,518
$1,116,398
$96,708
$133,686
$1,655,933
2008
$374,963
$400,960
$60,266
$145,303
$33,465
$346,817
$82,589
$30,194
$152,427
$60,172
$150,017
$82,771
$170,268
$252,448
$213,688
$137,227
$1,386,329
$1,252,000
$49,492
$160,281
$55,332
$295,630
$584,145
$3,011,830
$5,022,435
$111,974
$77,203
$6,284
$168,329
$2,257,542
$137,607
$94,410
$31,632
$981,107
$42,269
$619,445
$474,133
$1,158,469
$103,503
$145,531
$1,681,015
2009
$330,974
$389,741
$45,966
$134,480
$32,833
$345,487
$84,599
$26,843
$156,304
$58,469
$148,276
$80,308
$156,646
$253,320
$204,968
$138,692
$1,340,796
$1,262,003
$49,892
$149,858
$54,004
$270,719
$603,724
$2,953,311
$5,032,289
$101,627
$74,837
$7,123
$154,732
$2,258,617
$137,273
$68,914
$31,661
$925,310
$42,486
$604,040
$465,020
$1,099,162
$101,522
$148,030
$1,627,018
2010
$325,390
$395,912
$46,992
$131,670
$36,287
$359,386
$89,894
$28,662
$170,347
$59,962
$168,975
$81,517
$149,391
$259,139
$195,912
$142,545
$1,373,420
$1,270,164
$53,447
$124,619
$54,045
$286,682
$610,980
$2,866,536
$4,986,897
$101,940
$73,787
$6,650
$154,494
$2,283,393
$153,619
$54,971
$33,461
$933,464
$42,122
$607,278
$462,189
$1,084,119
$99,010
$147,850
$1,664,631
2011
$335,822
$401,477
$46,613
$133,030
$37,609
$370,614
$92,327
$31,004
$175,130
$61,881
$175,047
$86,412
$152,575
$263,168
$227,270
$146,036
$1,425,996
$1,278,023
$54,849
$127,783
$55,606
$290,380
$604,282
$2,906,516
$5,038,510
$105,889
$69,130
$5,895
$162,598
$2,200,711
$141,854
$53,277
$34,382
$976,739
$62,243
$631,517
$474,651
$1,112,464
$97,652
$140,541
$1,712,738
2013
$348,905
$418,963
$48,791
$135,395
$39,059
$381,127
$95,583
$30,668
$171,661
$75,367
$158,059
$93,616
$164,068
$276,338
$224,235
$147,563
$1,570,289
$1,364,808
$55,928
$140,335
$55,706
$305,347
$599,223
$2,962,035
$5,143,921
$106,328
$69,549
$4,477
$179,018
$2,345,459
$140,112
$46,815
$37,244
$1,030,677
$245,611
$717,301
$504,850
$1,155,627
$103,070
$137,707
$1,788,244
2014
$359,693
$439,394
$56,892
$135,858
$40,413
$382,971
$96,528
$31,375
$170,307
$72,047
$166,034
$93,078
$164,975
$274,150
$233,915
$155,811
$1,687,912
$1,426,635
$57,244
$171,002
$57,000
$315,348
$606,460
$3,012,614
$5,204,040
$104,499
$60,964
$4,538
$195,152
$2,363,445
$139,792
$48,288
$37,832
$1,082,926
$201,046
$753,639
$513,733
$1,170,840
$103,455
$141,015
$1,807,160
County
Leflore
Lincoln
Lowndes
Madison
Marion
Marshall
Monroe
Montgomery
Neshoba
Newton
Noxubee
Oktibbeha
Panola
Pearl River
Perry
Pike
Pontotoc
Prentiss
Quitman
Rankin
Scott
Sharkey
Simpson
Smith
Stone
Sunflower
Tallahatchie
Tate
Tippah
Tishomingo
Tunica
Union
Walthall
Warren
Washington
Wayne
Webster
Wilkinson
Winston
Yalobusha
Yazoo
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistices, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
2012
$344,479
$416,567
$44,903
$130,864
$40,483
$389,811
$94,138
$33,192
$176,143
$63,920
$246,946
$100,614
$159,557
$265,735
$222,569
$148,145
$1,517,028
$1,350,325
$54,378
$135,232
$54,155
$298,274
$612,017
$2,926,914
$5,074,945
$104,622
$68,385
$5,857
$173,402
$2,205,912
$148,290
$50,956
$36,525
$1,020,431
$125,047
$684,893
$489,733
$1,144,308
$100,816
$136,378
$1,788,459
Total Annual Wages
in $1,000
2004
$383,681
$309,743
$680,213
$1,247,751
$176,461
$152,560
$311,706
$58,290
$367,113
$159,213
$74,242
$455,442
$257,330
$220,817
$78,724
$354,226
$301,827
$200,106
$39,705
$1,522,123
$277,669
$29,591
$153,986
$93,174
$97,008
$223,282
$62,357
$144,359
$181,793
$137,574
$412,594
$211,249
$59,676
$737,161
$537,889
$130,026
$46,929
$47,358
$146,571
$82,531
$167,109
2005
$403,732
$327,244
$707,209
$1,323,639
$185,215
$158,543
$321,684
$58,430
$391,817
$159,854
$73,162
$486,086
$273,815
$237,423
$77,155
$374,966
$311,230
$198,492
$41,024
$1,620,241
$294,725
$30,602
$160,974
$95,221
$103,684
$229,771
$65,575
$147,606
$192,789
$140,364
$412,461
$220,269
$64,947
$772,306
$538,357
$140,646
$53,344
$46,643
$156,119
$80,137
$170,159
2006
$432,627
$361,143
$775,900
$1,420,699
$201,969
$164,946
$327,150
$57,201
$426,107
$170,069
$73,863
$511,447
$297,301
$273,069
$82,490
$402,524
$328,983
$200,910
$40,295
$1,776,007
$313,078
$30,417
$167,463
$95,643
$117,240
$243,151
$65,292
$151,791
$196,691
$153,233
$434,202
$222,442
$72,695
$809,773
$540,491
$150,644
$52,965
$47,775
$168,933
$81,541
$172,441
2007
$453,142
$348,436
$851,753
$1,474,184
$209,484
$177,622
$328,670
$57,089
$414,093
$172,742
$73,525
$547,258
$304,835
$288,996
$83,464
$409,469
$319,155
$209,211
$39,877
$1,878,160
$324,234
$31,344
$182,237
$93,812
$122,412
$250,347
$68,044
$153,817
$200,933
$152,934
$431,793
$239,325
$76,755
$815,809
$563,595
$155,146
$52,920
$50,975
$174,161
$82,316
$184,767
2008
$450,740
$351,015
$871,168
$1,510,400
$221,632
$189,168
$315,248
$61,239
$434,672
$171,095
$69,234
$584,977
$313,674
$296,516
$80,036
$449,408
$295,519
$215,297
$36,708
$1,954,101
$337,430
$31,422
$178,745
$88,385
$123,534
$253,572
$68,490
$154,515
$179,894
$154,790
$422,772
$253,899
$77,842
$886,575
$591,225
$154,681
$55,175
$56,675
$187,117
$86,117
$190,940
2009
$431,990
$336,809
$843,295
$1,469,945
$222,293
$187,260
$295,502
$63,180
$399,061
$160,296
$63,535
$572,494
$308,944
$288,475
$74,192
$410,987
$291,597
$195,871
$34,886
$1,842,964
$351,907
$31,692
$178,338
$86,852
$122,115
$256,557
$67,834
$154,486
$160,883
$141,293
$363,391
$242,253
$70,706
$804,575
$555,675
$144,073
$54,403
$61,115
$127,764
$81,792
$191,886
2010
$429,971
$341,816
$833,124
$1,586,707
$231,479
$185,610
$313,180
$66,639
$394,683
$163,231
$65,018
$580,488
$330,343
$288,963
$73,282
$412,714
$307,123
$196,573
$34,556
$1,866,632
$357,215
$32,612
$186,854
$86,625
$123,835
$251,194
$70,746
$158,220
$164,464
$142,534
$354,688
$234,593
$71,230
$803,707
$562,112
$150,954
$54,921
$65,412
$127,186
$89,934
$201,879
2011
$436,744
$349,009
$889,044
$1,702,845
$241,257
$183,421
$313,780
$68,666
$389,171
$166,649
$64,308
$596,251
$335,691
$295,930
$74,998
$415,122
$318,811
$197,916
$32,731
$1,903,889
$364,809
$32,776
$191,660
$90,195
$122,208
$252,808
$75,338
$163,777
$170,364
$146,276
$334,341
$291,613
$68,875
$811,585
$562,016
$154,135
$56,621
$65,149
$138,396
$92,246
$206,240
2012
$456,383
$358,364
$965,169
$1,879,921
$236,325
$181,528
$314,400
$69,871
$415,484
$171,475
$66,008
$615,273
$348,891
$304,087
$76,778
$428,563
$330,737
$202,134
$33,926
$1,996,746
$366,867
$33,562
$194,748
$89,590
$119,383
$260,223
$76,697
$166,662
$169,057
$151,185
$330,625
$331,538
$69,925
$804,318
$563,714
$157,975
$55,721
$62,225
$147,220
$93,498
$211,169
2013
$441,063
$366,262
$1,007,397
$2,023,273
$244,556
$185,004
$319,406
$73,866
$413,280
$173,224
$67,664
$629,748
$347,847
$307,096
$77,216
$438,074
$336,471
$202,168
$33,012
$2,066,739
$384,215
$33,390
$197,256
$93,004
$120,918
$257,792
$86,259
$167,106
$171,524
$159,371
$314,153
$360,415
$70,622
$813,623
$563,683
$156,218
$57,075
$53,981
$149,953
$89,205
$218,926
2014
$448,671
$379,860
$955,623
$2,111,063
$253,842
$196,274
$345,005
$72,535
$420,872
$176,584
$70,928
$655,140
$356,747
$309,757
$78,309
$445,886
$360,783
$210,373
$32,443
$2,181,973
$403,254
$34,283
$197,138
$99,328
$124,811
$255,299
$91,741
$165,084
$177,078
$165,691
$294,960
$375,969
$73,303
$819,292
$567,730
$165,030
$57,684
$49,686
$155,201
$94,007
$229,081
County
Adams
Alcorn
Amite
Attala
Benton
Bolivar
Calhoun
Carroll
Chickasaw
Choctaw
Claiborne
Clarke
Clay
Coahoma
Copiah
Covington
DeSoto
Forrest
Franklin
George
Greene
Grenada
Hancock
Harrison
Hinds
Holmes
Humphreys
Issaquena
Itawamba
Jackson
Jasper
Jefferson
Jefferson Davis
Jones
Kemper
Lafayette
Lamar
Lauderdale
Lawrence
Leake
Lee
2004
$24,790
$27,140
$23,547
$22,578
$25,314
$25,302
$22,413
$21,516
$24,840
$28,425
$42,424
$22,635
$27,408
$26,145
$24,103
$22,194
$27,427
$29,266
$25,875
$23,442
$23,076
$27,109
$35,347
$28,026
$34,480
$23,734
$19,484
$20,652
$25,041
$33,095
$25,417
$22,473
$22,216
$27,595
$21,459
$28,728
$23,794
$28,063
$33,753
$20,897
$31,634
2005
$26,267
$27,471
$24,481
$23,281
$26,421
$25,974
$23,207
$22,607
$25,218
$29,655
$44,153
$23,349
$27,578
$27,748
$24,795
$23,779
$28,412
$30,054
$27,058
$25,541
$23,410
$27,295
$38,996
$30,862
$35,583
$24,943
$20,405
$21,087
$26,601
$35,582
$27,026
$23,193
$23,375
$28,980
$22,395
$30,064
$24,166
$28,601
$38,525
$22,604
$31,660
2006
$28,431
$28,381
$26,557
$24,367
$27,355
$27,210
$23,959
$24,009
$25,974
$29,128
$45,217
$25,082
$29,739
$27,904
$25,166
$25,422
$28,909
$32,058
$28,259
$26,251
$24,634
$28,926
$43,627
$33,749
$37,229
$25,111
$21,186
$20,240
$27,331
$37,194
$28,400
$23,763
$25,590
$29,988
$23,674
$31,077
$24,880
$29,572
$37,222
$23,745
$31,978
2007
$29,469
$29,338
$27,704
$25,744
$28,117
$31,514
$24,740
$24,467
$26,033
$29,868
$46,656
$26,733
$30,499
$28,801
$25,894
$26,317
$29,601
$33,349
$28,540
$27,643
$26,887
$28,474
$41,836
$34,231
$38,567
$26,491
$21,843
$20,265
$28,665
$40,173
$29,598
$25,291
$27,196
$31,447
$25,248
$32,387
$24,798
$30,775
$35,327
$24,406
$33,174
2008
$30,493
$30,893
$28,612
$28,682
$28,438
$28,407
$24,895
$25,891
$26,903
$31,917
$46,548
$27,098
$30,723
$28,899
$26,950
$26,812
$30,290
$34,225
$29,588
$33,037
$27,594
$28,521
$42,761
$34,921
$39,468
$27,095
$23,102
$21,099
$29,616
$43,644
$31,866
$27,642
$39,938
$33,097
$25,311
$33,618
$25,967
$32,087
$35,921
$25,252
$33,467
2009
$28,853
$31,489
$26,483
$28,949
$28,860
$29,125
$25,559
$25,698
$27,920
$32,433
$45,932
$26,341
$30,276
$29,897
$27,100
$27,745
$30,667
$34,710
$30,637
$33,323
$27,587
$29,090
$43,999
$35,307
$40,307
$27,111
$23,179
$21,807
$29,577
$44,410
$32,129
$27,531
$34,861
$33,171
$25,500
$34,345
$26,882
$32,221
$36,956
$25,339
$34,199
2010
$29,470
$31,752
$27,861
$28,550
$30,028
$29,517
$25,766
$27,329
$28,750
$33,755
$49,739
$27,950
$29,587
$30,499
$27,568
$29,325
$30,914
$35,199
$31,286
$29,642
$27,545
$30,531
$44,892
$34,978
$40,694
$27,413
$23,307
$22,498
$29,987
$44,329
$34,058
$27,341
$31,382
$34,584
$25,460
$34,805
$26,900
$32,344
$37,172
$26,110
$34,414
2012
$31,944
$31,988
$28,043
$28,393
$30,717
$32,917
$27,599
$28,385
$29,286
$34,310
$60,002
$31,948
$31,447
$31,755
$31,186
$29,475
$31,993
$36,890
$32,755
$30,635
$27,502
$30,584
$45,984
$35,441
$42,112
$28,173
$24,554
$24,219
$30,437
$45,982
$34,649
$28,234
$30,909
$36,124
$38,546
$36,138
$27,841
$34,348
$39,914
$27,024
$35,440
2013
$32,378
$31,920
$30,038
$29,618
$29,629
$32,473
$28,834
$27,961
$29,490
$37,128
$49,454
$30,570
$32,726
$33,331
$31,715
$29,717
$32,335
$37,090
$33,637
$31,260
$27,591
$30,888
$45,381
$35,740
$42,925
$29,437
$23,970
$21,430
$31,495
$47,634
$33,979
$28,512
$29,605
$36,697
$48,131
$36,640
$28,150
$34,600
$40,939
$27,087
$35,385
2014
$33,043
$33,060
$32,267
$30,016
$30,719
$33,060
$29,206
$28,380
$30,773
$37,421
$50,042
$31,436
$32,956
$33,076
$33,063
$30,880
$32,756
$37,840
$34,155
$34,215
$28,658
$31,052
$46,576
$36,411
$43,630
$28,740
$26,209
$22,146
$32,294
$48,017
$35,569
$28,117
$29,847
$38,156
$54,199
$37,171
$28,668
$35,115
$42,918
$28,158
$35,962
County
Leflore
Lincoln
Lowndes
Madison
Marion
Marshall
Monroe
Montgomery
Neshoba
Newton
Noxubee
Oktibbeha
Panola
Pearl River
Perry
Pike
Pontotoc
Prentiss
Quitman
Rankin
Scott
Sharkey
Simpson
Smith
Stone
Sunflower
Tallahatchie
Tate
Tippah
Tishomingo
Tunica
Union
Walthall
Warren
Washington
Wayne
Webster
Wilkinson
Winston
Yalobusha
Yazoo
2004
$25,751
$26,660
$28,061
$30,793
$23,157
$24,980
$28,528
$20,248
$25,688
$24,788
$22,960
$27,193
$25,197
$23,329
$32,911
$23,457
$26,821
$24,636
$22,236
$30,222
$23,643
$20,753
$20,967
$27,592
$25,453
$22,435
$21,411
$24,502
$25,762
$24,544
$26,047
$25,498
$21,264
$31,113
$25,712
$24,318
$22,242
$23,928
$28,613
$27,971
$28,106
2005
$26,629
$27,456
$29,136
$31,843
$24,710
$25,386
$29,153
$20,767
$26,687
$24,926
$24,039
$27,918
$25,929
$24,966
$32,533
$24,494
$26,684
$25,608
$22,966
$31,011
$24,034
$21,733
$21,125
$28,534
$26,072
$22,699
$22,177
$25,653
$26,532
$25,018
$26,482
$25,701
$22,664
$32,563
$26,861
$25,919
$23,764
$24,354
$29,413
$29,384
$29,113
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
2011
$30,489
$31,941
$27,791
$28,613
$28,880
$30,788
$26,322
$27,948
$28,839
$34,007
$50,083
$28,966
$30,588
$31,158
$30,225
$29,324
$31,461
$35,776
$32,611
$29,936
$28,298
$30,372
$45,254
$35,229
$41,310
$28,386
$23,165
$22,990
$30,030
$45,529
$33,410
$27,778
$31,650
$35,106
$30,053
$34,950
$27,714
$33,352
$39,191
$26,918
$34,988
Average Annual Pay
2006
$27,645
$29,968
$30,609
$33,388
$25,997
$26,698
$30,622
$22,122
$29,113
$26,371
$24,959
$28,646
$27,072
$26,921
$34,606
$25,665
$27,403
$25,742
$23,313
$32,393
$25,156
$22,182
$22,598
$29,036
$27,594
$23,210
$22,887
$26,668
$27,238
$25,726
$27,503
$25,988
$24,576
$34,054
$27,529
$27,578
$24,822
$25,442
$31,011
$28,956
$29,292
2007
$28,417
$29,450
$33,057
$34,608
$27,127
$28,377
$31,209
$22,533
$29,299
$26,775
$25,888
$30,722
$27,661
$26,899
$35,142
$26,425
$27,854
$27,152
$24,164
$33,247
$25,922
$22,877
$24,004
$28,899
$28,386
$25,006
$24,591
$27,250
$28,293
$26,698
$27,939
$27,220
$25,405
$34,989
$28,478
$27,868
$24,480
$26,620
$31,208
$28,991
$30,405
2008
$29,258
$30,395
$34,264
$35,804
$28,782
$30,751
$32,083
$23,712
$30,591
$27,614
$26,397
$31,644
$29,257
$28,467
$35,350
$28,441
$27,637
$27,821
$24,086
$34,320
$26,331
$23,839
$24,028
$29,639
$28,871
$26,169
$25,132
$27,820
$28,375
$27,500
$28,982
$28,666
$26,132
$37,462
$29,761
$28,515
$26,040
$28,116
$34,117
$29,435
$31,942
2009
$29,516
$30,661
$34,840
$36,081
$29,449
$31,805
$31,671
$24,407
$30,647
$27,396
$25,941
$32,155
$29,586
$28,874
$35,774
$27,371
$28,380
$27,304
$25,026
$33,667
$27,199
$24,958
$24,567
$30,388
$29,612
$27,356
$25,017
$28,636
$28,214
$27,315
$27,923
$28,912
$26,043
$36,590
$29,915
$28,295
$26,221
$27,982
$27,647
$28,680
$32,649
2010
$30,008
$31,640
$35,244
$37,419
$31,164
$31,006
$32,947
$25,365
$31,213
$28,364
$25,993
$33,562
$30,341
$29,870
$35,701
$28,320
$28,673
$27,670
$25,769
$34,310
$27,108
$25,369
$25,234
$30,987
$30,629
$27,885
$25,501
$29,205
$29,109
$28,167
$28,917
$29,692
$26,341
$37,368
$30,668
$29,567
$25,699
$28,799
$28,821
$29,566
$33,174
2011
$31,257
$32,079
$36,550
$38,373
$31,368
$31,315
$33,404
$26,598
$30,752
$28,788
$26,362
$33,570
$31,129
$30,153
$37,103
$29,006
$29,343
$28,089
$26,276
$34,963
$28,662
$26,520
$25,847
$32,540
$30,011
$28,517
$26,583
$30,212
$30,071
$28,521
$28,870
$32,760
$26,163
$38,730
$31,013
$30,208
$26,977
$29,554
$30,402
$29,877
$33,776
2012
$32,867
$32,764
$38,066
$40,311
$32,122
$31,758
$33,825
$27,188
$32,671
$28,981
$27,015
$33,517
$32,413
$30,724
$38,189
$29,763
$29,504
$28,479
$27,400
$35,753
$29,269
$27,079
$26,297
$33,001
$30,566
$29,301
$27,597
$30,786
$29,943
$28,952
$29,228
$34,270
$26,904
$39,010
$31,808
$31,251
$27,044
$30,118
$32,086
$28,803
$34,707
2013
$32,050
$33,043
$39,227
$41,593
$33,043
$32,796
$35,077
$28,672
$33,506
$29,417
$27,653
$33,660
$32,749
$31,077
$38,909
$30,377
$29,494
$28,818
$27,527
$36,409
$29,929
$27,022
$26,907
$33,794
$30,702
$29,461
$29,476
$31,103
$30,260
$29,645
$28,940
$36,752
$27,592
$39,402
$32,181
$32,129
$28,264
$29,271
$32,603
$29,716
$35,375
2014
$32,001
$33,828
$38,959
$42,188
$33,356
$33,365
$36,193
$28,840
$33,721
$29,744
$28,558
$34,073
$33,239
$31,574
$38,984
$30,450
$30,497
$29,326
$27,886
$37,105
$30,688
$28,021
$26,965
$35,875
$31,397
$29,520
$29,939
$30,814
$30,001
$30,143
$30,058
$38,013
$29,059
$40,165
$32,597
$33,415
$29,066
$28,929
$34,032
$31,507
$36,093
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Website: http://www.sig.msstate.edu
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