HOLLY SPRINGS — A chancery court judge has put his faith, at least for now, in the city of Holly Springs’ ongoing efforts to revitalize its long struggling power system. In a courtroom on the city square on Monday, Chancery Judge Lawrence Little told state and Holly Springs officials he woul d allow a consultant hired by the city, Michael Watson, to take charge of the department for the time being. Watson has spent the past nine months working with the city through a list of needed improvements. Little’s hearing came at the end of a receivership hearing where the state Public Service Commission offered a different nominee to lead the utility, which provides electricity to about 12,000 customers in north Mississippi. Even though the city runs the Holly Springs Utility Department, the utility has expanded to the point where most customers live outside the city. For years now, the utility’s ratepayers have reported constant problems with the department, namely frequent power outages. Dealing with unmaintained infrastructure, failing substations and overgrown vegetation, the power grid has seen extended outages not only in recent winter storms, but also sporadically during sunny weather. In 2024, state lawmakers gave the PSC authority to intervene over the department’s issues. Using that power, the commission last year unanimously found that the city failed to provide “reasonably adequate service” to its customers. The ruling paved the way for the PSC to petition a court to place the utility in a receivership. The commission chose Frank Simon, a Michigan-based attorney who has worked as a receiver for a variety of businesses, including hospitals, cannabis companies and gas stations. State attorney Stephen Schelver described Simon as a “professional receiver” who could build a team of experts to lead the utility. Vegetation grows on power lines near Ashland, Miss., on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. Persistent maintenance issues have contributed to years of unreliable power for residents served by the Holly Springs Utility Department, a problem worsened by an ice storm in 2023. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today Holly Springs attorney John Keith Perry contested that Simon had no utility experience while Watson, the city’s consultant, spent decades in the industry and had already become familiar with the local power grid. In the end, Little opted to put Watson in charge of the department for now, reasoning that the move would provide some stability in a messy situation. The judge also said he wanted to be kept up to date about the utility’s performance and whether it’s meeting expectations set by the PSC and Tennessee Valley Authority, which has sold wholesale power to Holly Springs since 1935. Initially, there was some confusion around the details of the decision from Little, who repeatedly coughed while delivering the message in the small courtroom. While Perry and Holly Springs Mayor Charles Terry celebrated the outcome as a “victory” for the city, Northern District Public Service Commissioner Chris Brown said he wasn’t sure that Little had officially named Watson as the receiver. “There is a lot of reporting right now regarding todays hearing,” Brown wrote on Facebook following the meeting. “Nobody has seen the Judge’s orders with his instructions on what happens moving forward.” While Little still has yet to release an order, his staff attorney, Tara Scruggs, confirmed to Mississippi Today on Wednesday that Watson would be the receiver. Scruggs said she couldn’t give a timeline for when the order would be filed. Most details of the receivership, such as how long it will last and what reporting the court will require, are unclear for now. Perry said Watson would have to update the court on his progress every 30 days. Terry, who took office as mayor last year, said the power provider has already seen improvements since Watson came on as a consultant, adding that he was a “great help” in enduring Winter Storm Fern. The storm knocked out power to 95% of the system’s meters and forced the city to borrow $10 million to pay contractors, Perry wrote in a February update to the PSC. Holly Springs Alderman at Large Dexter Shipp, Mayor Charles Terry and City Attorney John Keith Perry outside a courtroom in Holly Springs, Aug. 10, 2026. Credit: Alex Rozier “I think we’ve been doing a good job on the outages and recovery time as well,” Terry said. “We’re still having outages, but not as bad as they used to be.” With Watson’s help, the city has spent $500,000 on rights-of-way maintenance, replaced old meters, rebuilt relationships with neighboring power companies, and has started to catch up on its payments to TVA, Perry said Monday. The city is also developing a new mapping system, set to be ready in 2027. Perry added that the city has found a long-term general manager to run the system, but declined to name that person for now. After the hearing, Brown said the commission suggested Simon, who “does this all the time,” to give the city a new type of leadership. “It’s a system that desperately needs help. It’s in a crisis, so why not go a different direction?” he said. TVA also offered its own candidate: Dana Jeans, former chief executive officer for Memphis Light, Gas and Water. In another ongoing legal matter, Holly Springs is facing a federal lawsuit TVA brought against the city last year. In addition to owing TVA $18 million, Holly Springs violated the parties’ contract by committing a series of financial missteps, such as misallocating revenue and not raising rates appropriately, the lawsuit alleges. The two sides are set to meet Monday to discuss a settlement. ...read more read less