MidDays with Gerard Gibert 2026-06-25

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Get ready to go beyond the headlines and join a meaningful conversation with people from around the state. You're listening to MidDays with Gerard Gibert here on SuperTalk Mississippi.

**Gerard Gibert** (1:02)
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to MidDays. SuperTalk Mississippi, I'm your host, Gerard Gibert, on location at the Neshoba County Fair. It's Mississippi's giant house party. It's back and bigger than ever.
We'll be guiding you through the middle of your day with facts, fodder and fine music on this Friday Eve. We kick things off on day two of our broadcast from Mississippi's giant house party with DeKeither Stamps. He's the Public Service Commissioner for the Central District of the State of Mississippi. Mr. Commissioner, thanks for coming in, sir.

**DeKeither Stamps** (1:41)
Hey, thanks for the opportunity to be here.

**Gerard Gibert** (1:42)
You bet. So I caught your speech this morning on the stage over there in the pavilion. I believe you kicked things off, right?

**DeKeither Stamps** (1:49)
Well, Scott Bounds.

**Gerard Gibert** (1:50)
Scott Bounds, of course, the president. You're right. Thank you. So but I caught some of it in a significant focus on economic development here in the state of Mississippi.

**DeKeither Stamps** (2:00)
Yes, sir. When we ran to the state level the first time, we set a goal of doing $100 billion of economic development and we're at about $85 billion now, but we've got to raise our brow a little bit.

**Gerard Gibert** (2:09)
Yeah.

**DeKeither Stamps** (2:10)
So we can be more competitive in the region.

**Gerard Gibert** (2:12)
Absolutely. So explain to us how the Public Service Commission can play a role in growing the economy of the state of Mississippi.

**DeKeither Stamps** (2:19)
Well, the biggest difference between a cornfield and an industrial park is utilities. Once you lay down the sewer, the water and all the utilities, the Highway Commissioner comes in with the highway. Now you have industry potential and we must do more of that.
And then also we must upgrade our utilities in our towns, so we can turn our towns into cities. Okay. Real vibrant cities with the infrastructure necessary so the state can grow.

**Gerard Gibert** (2:48)
Well, I know you talked about population and the need to increase our population here, and you know that's a problem in the state of Mississippi. And the other thing is, as you know, Mr. Commissioner, our population is aging somewhat, and as we age, we enjoy our retirement, so we don't really work. We need young people in our workforce.

**DeKeither Stamps** (3:06)
That's right. We need young folks to choose Mississippi, so we must be the style of leadership that attracts our grandchildren to want to stay here.

**Gerard Gibert** (3:15)
Yeah.

**DeKeither Stamps** (3:16)
And to build their lives here, just like we've enjoyed building our lives here.

**Gerard Gibert** (3:20)
So you were sharing with me before we went on the air that, of course, there are three commissioners for the benefit of our audience tuning in. You are responsible for the Central District. That aligns actually with our Supreme Court districts. We have a Northern Commissioner, a Southern Commissioner, same for transportation.
You guys work together and are responsible for approving rate increases as an example, one of your cheap responsibilities. You were telling me about a meeting you guys just recently had and it concerned Entergy, I believe, right?

**DeKeither Stamps** (3:53)
Well, every year, Entergy, Mississippi files a formula rate plan for the year.

**Gerard Gibert** (3:59)
Do all of them have to do that, Mr. Commissioner? Okay, I just want to make sure.

**DeKeither Stamps** (4:02)
And that's where we set the rates for the next year. And this year, Entergy, Mississippi did not have a rate increase. Actually, it was a slight decrease because of the volume and the amount of...

**Gerard Gibert** (4:14)
The economy's scale.
Yeah. So, as you know, you've heard it, I've heard it, we've all heard it. Lots of folks are concerned about the investments in data centers, the various construction projects, seven to be exact, across our state, that are touching the various electricity providers. And folks are concerned about that possibly driving rates up for just the average residential customer. Now, we've talked to CEO of Energy, Heidi Posackler, many times, and he's explained how that's actually not the case. What's your perspective on that?

**DeKeither Stamps** (4:48)
Well, anything that's ineffectively governed, and sure enough, data centers across the country and the world, you see examples of ineffective governance. But Mississippi is learning from those things and putting mitigating factors in place to stop bad governance and to have stable governance for our utilities.