A former construction manager at the now defunct $7.5-billion Kemper clean coal and carbon capture project in Mississippi claims in a just- unsealed federal whistleblower lawsuit that utility Southern Co. and unit Mississippi Power Co. defrauded the U.S. Energy Dept. of $382 million by filing false statements about the cost, construction status and commercial viability of the project, cancelled in 2018.
The companies intentionally concealed cost overruns and delays at the site to “induce DOE to disburse the money,” says the amended complaint filed Oct. 30 by Kelli Williams, a former Southern site manager who resigned in 2016.
Southern, which has not yet reached the 21-day deadline to file a suit response, did not comment.
The complaint was initially filed in 2018 in the Atlanta federal district court but was put under court seal to allow the government to investigate the claim as required by the False Claims Act. The U.S. Justice Dept. requested it be unsealed but declined to join the case as a plaintiff, with reasons not specified.
Williams can continue the action “in the name of the U.S.,” the suit states, with the U.S. Justice Dept. required to approve any dismissal or settlement.
What Happened?
The Kemper County, Miss., plant was intended to gasify lignite coal to burn as syngas in a 562-MW power plant, with 50% of carbon emissions to be sequestered underground. The facility was considered a successful example of carbon capture technology for power plants—intended to...
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