# Kemper County, Mississippi: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Bogue Chitto and Porterville Kemper County hosts some of the generating capacity Mississippi runs on. Unemployment was 4.2% in August 2026, against 7.6% in 2019. Kemper County is home to De Kalb and Scooba. Next door, Lauderdale County has 1 data center. Employers here counted 1,748 jobs in 2025, down 12.2% from 2019. Its power plants have 1,212 MW of capacity, 100% of it natural gas, the 5th largest fleet in Mississippi. -12.2% total jobs since 2019, now 1,748 1,212 MW of operating power plants, mostly natural gas 14.26¢ per kWh for East Mississippi Elec Pwr Assn residential customers, 2024 ## Cities and towns in Kemper County Kemper County is home to De Kalb and Scooba. De Kalb834 residents Scooba734 residents Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Bogue Chitto, Porterville. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Kemper County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Mississippi | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 8,968 | 8,600 | ▼ 4.1% | 72nd of 82 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 1,990 | 1,748 | ▼ 12.2% | 76th of 82 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $39,606 | $45,275 | ▲ 14.3% | — | | Electric utility jobs (2019 → 2025) | 64 | 68 | ▲ 6.2% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 7.6% | 4.2% | ▼ 3.4pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | East Mississippi Elec Pwr Assn is the largest utility serving Kemper County. Its residential customers paid an average 14.26¢/kWh in 2024, above the 12.78¢ median for Mississippi utilities. 8,600 people live here, down 4.1% since 2020. ## Who powers Kemper County ### Utilities with service territory in Kemper County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | East Mississippi Elec Pwr Assn | Cooperative | Bundled | 9,885 | 14.26¢ | 42% | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Natural gas | 1,212 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Ratcliffe | Mississippi Power Co | Natural gas | 840 MW | 2014 | | Kemper County | Tennessee Valley Authority | Natural gas | 372 MW | 2002 | ## The Kemper County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 1,748 | $45,275 | 1.00 | | Construction | 69 | $74,383 | 0.75 | | Electric utilities | 68 | $107,533 | 14.37 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Kemper County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Kemper County. Mississippi has 1 local measure on record statewide. ## Kemper County and its neighbors Of the 6 counties that border Kemper County, Lauderdale County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Kemper County | 8,600 | ▼ 12.2% | 1,212 MW | — | — | — | | Lauderdale County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/lauderdale-county) | 70,317 | ▼ 6.3% | 108 MW | — | 1 | — | | Neshoba County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/neshoba-county) | 28,732 | ▲ 5.5% | — | — | — | — | | Newton County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/newton-county) | 20,960 | ▼ 10.4% | — | — | — | — | | Noxubee County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/noxubee-county) | 9,798 | ▼ 11.3% | — | — | — | — | | Sumter County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/alabama/sumter-county) AL | 11,588 | ▼ 2.4% | — | — | — | — | | Winston County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/winston-county) | 17,473 | ▲ 2.1% | — | — | — | — | ## More of Mississippi [All Mississippi countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi)[Lauderdale County70,317 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/lauderdale-county)[Neshoba County28,732 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/neshoba-county)[Newton County20,960 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/newton-county)[Winston County17,473 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/winston-county)[Noxubee County9,798 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/noxubee-county) ## Kemper County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Kemper County, Mississippi? 1 utility has service territory in Kemper County in the EIA-861 2024 report: East Mississippi Elec Pwr Assn. The largest, East Mississippi Elec Pwr Assn, charged residential customers 14.26¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Kemper County? 2 operating plants with 1,212 MW of capacity. The largest is Ratcliffe (840 MW, natural gas). ### Are there data centers in Kemper County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Kemper County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Lauderdale County. ### Is Kemper County adding jobs? Employers counted 1,748 jobs in 2025 against 1,990 in 2019 (-12.2%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Kemper County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Kemper County. Mississippi has 1 local measure statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/kemper-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).