Alex Rozier

United States

Data and Environment Reporter at Mississippi Today

Mississippi Today data & environment reporter.

Articles

'Trainwreck on the horizon': The costly pains of Mississippi’s small water and sewer systems

3 days ago | mississippitoday.org | Alex Rozier

This is the first of a two-part story. “This state ain’t nothing but a big Jackson,” Central District Public Service Commissioner De’Keither Stamps said during a December meeting that harkened back to his time as a capital city councilman. “We got a whole statewide trainwreck that’s on the horizon.”Over a thousand drinking water systems, most of them small, and hundreds of additional sewer systems operate in Mississippi.
5th Circuit reverses order to give JXN Water SNAP data

1 week ago | mississippitoday.org | Alex Rozier

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday reversed and remanded a decision ordering the release of federal benefit recipient data to the federally appointed receiver JXN Water. For over a year, JXN Water and its chief Ted Henifin have hoped to implement a first-of-its-kind discount for Jackson customers who receive benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
PSC revives solar programs a year after suspending them

3 weeks ago | mississippitoday.org | Alex Rozier

The Mississippi Public Service Commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to lift a stay on programs offering incentives for solar power. The same commission voted to suspend the programs last April. The PSC initially voted in 2024 to suspend three programs: “Solar for Schools,” which allows school districts to essentially build solar panels for free in exchange for tax credits, as well as incentives for battery storage and low-income participants in the state’s “distributed generation” rule.
State prepares to apply for federal disaster aid after 'total devastation' over the weekend

1 month ago | mississippitoday.org | Alex Rozier

County officials are continuing to tally damages throughout Mississippi, hopeful that the aftermath will qualify the areas for federal disaster assistance. Gov. Tate Reeves said during a press conference Monday afternoon that the state will apply for aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but that more assessments are needed first.
JXN Water, running out of operating cash, will raise rates again

1 month ago | mississippitoday.org | Alex Rozier

JXN Water is losing money at a rate it can’t sustain, according to a financial outlook it released last week, as the federal dollars it received to run day-to-day operations are set to run out next month. Ted Henifin, who manages the third-party provider, told Mississippi Today on Thursday that the funding shortfall may extend repair times for line breaks, and that the utility will look to once again raise rates on customers’ water bills.
Ocean Springs homeowners' appeal challenges blight laws

1 month ago | mississippitoday.org | Alex Rozier

Ocean Springs homeowners on Wednesday appealed a federal court’s decision to dismiss their lawsuit against the city. The dispute stems from the city’s 2023 proposed urban renewal plan that would have permanently labeled some properties as “slum” or “blighted.”While later that year the city voted against the plan after receiving public pushback, as the Sun Herald reported, the plaintiffs maintain that the state code behind the city’s plan violates their constitutional right to due process.
State, MS Power extend life of coal unit to energize data centers

2 months ago | mississippitoday.org | Alex Rozier

Last week, the state Public Service Commission unanimously approved a special contract that will extend the life of a Mississippi Power coal unit in order to meet energy demands for a recently announced data center project in Meridian. Gov. Tate Reeves announced last month a $10 billion investment from Compass Datacenters. The Dallas-based company will build eight centers, and in exchange will receive multiple tax exemptions, Mississippi Today reported.
‘A real joy’: Delta man comes home five years after flood drove him away

2 months ago | vicksburgnews.com | Alex Rozier

FITLER, Miss. – by Alex Rozier (Mississippi today) Inside his sky blue, single-story house on the outskirts of the south Delta, Anderson Jones Sr. smiled as he settled back into the cushions of his brown living room chair. After five and a half years away, he was home again. But as Jones relished in the comfort of his quarters, in an unincorporated area called Fitler, he also remembered what took him away in the first place.
Delta man comes home five years after flood drove him away

2 months ago | mississippitoday.org | Alex Rozier

FITLER – Inside his sky blue, single-story house on the outskirts of the south Delta, Anderson Jones Sr. smiled as he settled back into the cushions of his brown living room chair. After five and a half years away, he was home again. But as Jones relished in the comfort of his quarters, in an unincorporated area called Fitler, he also remembered what took him away in the first place.
Energy proposals include calling natural gas ‘clean,’ pausing wind projects

2 months ago | djournal.com | Alex Rozier

A bill that passed out of the Senate Energy Committee on Wednesday would label natural gas, the predominant energy source in Mississippi, “clean energy” despite its greenhouse gas emissions. Sen. Joel Carter, R-Gulfport, introduced Senate Bill 2231, and explained the idea behind it is to take advantage of clean energy benefits as well as to avoid federal regulations that might punish the use of non-clean energy.