A small Mississippi town keeps losing power and residents are tired of being left in the dark [View all]

Annthiesa Warren has grown so accustomed to frequent power outages in her tiny north Mississippi town that she gets wary if there’s a rainy or gusty day in the forecast.

“A breeze blows,” she said. “The lights go out.”

When that happens, she pulls out her generator that puts out just enough power to run a lamp and her refrigerator in the stifling Mississippi heat.

But Warren and others in and around Holly Springs said they have grown frustrated with the frequent outages. The problem is so severe that the Tennessee Valley Authority — which provides power to millions of customers across seven Southern states — says 70% of the complaints that it has received this year are tied to the small city-managed utility, which is responsible for nearly 12,000 customers.

The department has faced several key problems, including a leadership gap that has left managerial responsibilities in the hands of a small-town mayor for months and chronic issues with crumbling power poles and overgrown foliage, according to local officials and department staff. Last month, an assistant electric superintendent with the department publicly warned that the system is “collapsing now.”

“It’s a never-ending problem,” said state Sen. Neil Whaley, a Republican from Potts Camp, Mississippi, whose district has been hit hard by the outages. “You think that you’re getting a little bit of relief and, bam, you’re right back in the same situation.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/summer-flares-mississippi-utility-keeps-losing-power-rcna98257