Southern leaders tackle energy policy
BILOXI, Miss. (WXXV) — Governor Tate Reeves and other state and energy leaders from across the south are on the coast this week to discuss the region’s role in powering America’s future.
Taking place at the Hard Rock this week is the Southern States Energy Board’s annual meeting – focusing on discussions surrounding nuclear energy, critical minerals, grid resilience, energy security, and the growing power demands of AI infrastructure.
“As ya’ll have heard me say many times, in the future, in my opinion, there are going to be two kinds of states in the future in America – those states that can meet the demands of industry for job creation, and there are gonna be states that lose. And it’s gonna be a very clear distinction, and we think here in the south we have a lot of opportunities to take advantage of that, and really be a net winner,” said Gov. Reeves.
The meeting comes as our state advances Gov. Reeves’ “Mississippi’s Power Play” initiative — aimed at expanding energy capacity, attracting private investment and keeping energy reliable and affordable.
Gov. Reeves met with President Donald Trump on Friday and had the chance to discuss Mississippi’s continued economic growth.
“The president understands that energy security is national security, and he is, as you know, very focused on ensuring on some of these large data center projects… he is very focused on ensuring that we have the energy capacity to make these projects happen, while also recognizing that those who are gonna benefit from these large energy dependent projects, the hyper-scaler, etc., that they pay for the infrastructure that is not born by everyday consumers, and every day rate-payers,” said Gov. Reeves.
Also announced at this year’s meeting is the Southern States Energy’s Promotion of Puerto Rican governor Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon to the position of board chairman – replacing Miss. Gov. Tate Reeves.
“We’re gonna take the job that’s being done and we’re gonna reenforce that and align with the administration, and allow all those companies and the resources that are there, not to depend on foreign imports. In the other sense, I believe that the economy of the United States can be improved by not taking things from China. We need to rely on our own stuff in that sense. We can be a great example of that. We do manufacture. That’s the core of our economy,” said Gov. Gonzalez-Colon.
The annual meeting kicked off on Monday and will last through Wednesday.
