The Hattiesburg American Editorial, 12/4/8
Perhaps my initial assessment that Attorney General Jim Hood was yet again engaging in political grandstanding in his pursuit of Entergy on charges that the utility is gouging Mississippi customers might have been premature – or at the very least, may not be the relevant issue.
Oh, I don’t doubt that General Hood enjoys posing as a consumer protection advocate. Prior to taking on Entergy, one of Hood’s more recent crusades involved accusing several reputable small oil and gas jobbers around the state of price gouging in the sale of gasoline in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
One of those companies – Fair Oil Company in Louisville – successfully challenged Hood over the accusation and a Winston Co. chancery judge agreed that the law Hood was pursuing the company on was unconstitutionally vague.
Regardless of Hood’s motivation for pursuing Entergy on allegations that the utility buys fuel and power from other Entergy subsidiaries at a higher price than it could on the open market and then passes those costs along to customers, his investigation has raised an issue that is very relevant to Mississippi taxpayers.