SB 2309 Mississippi Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Mississippi Gulf Coast Region Utility Act; protect powers of county authorities.

SB 2309 amends Mississippi Code Section 49-17-743 to protect county authorities' existing powers over water, wastewater, and stormwater systems. It prohibits the Public Service Commission from making rulings, rules, or decisions that interfere with these county authorities' operations. The bill clarifies that the Commission retains its authority to issue certificates of public convenience to entities other than county authorities. This change specifically affects county authorities managing utility systems and the Public Service Commission, ensuring county powers remain intact without limiting the Commission's other regulatory functions.

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 19, 2026 Last action Feb 12, 2026

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What changed between versions

As Introduced → Current version · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends Mississippi Code Section 49-17-743 to clarify that the Public Service Commission cannot issue rulings that interfere with County Authority powers, while preserving the Commission's authority to issue certificates to entities other than County Authorities. The amendment also reorganizes and clarifies the list of powers granted to County Authorities, including water and wastewater system management, contracting authority, and property acquisition rights.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on County Authority powers, but it adds a specific limitation preventing the Public Service Commission from interfering with those powers while maintaining the Commission's ability to regulate other entities.

ENFORCEMENT

Added a provision stating the Public Service Commission cannot issue rulings, promulgations, findings, or decisions that interfere with County Authority powers, though it retains authority to issue certificates to non-County Authority entities.

TECHNICAL

Reorganized and renumbered the list of County Authority powers from subsections (a) through (aa) to subsections (a) through (o), consolidating related powers and removing redundant language.

Updated formatting and line breaks throughout the document to comply with current legislative markup standards, including adding page headers and removing extraneous text.

Removed duplicate and fragmented text that appeared in the original version, consolidating the legislative text into a clean, continuous format.

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Committee

Feb 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

Title Suff Do Pass Comm Sub

upper

Jan 19, 2026

Committee

Referred To Energy

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors