# Panola County, Mississippi: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Batesville, Sardis and Como Panola County is a power-producing county: the plants here serve load well beyond its borders. Unemployment was 3.9% in August 2026, against 7.0% in 2019. Panola County is home to Batesville, Sardis and Como. 20 MW of new generation is planned here across 4 units, led by Rye Development (other technologies). Construction employs 413, up 11.6% since 2019. Its power plants have 904 MW of capacity, 99% of it natural gas, the 9th largest fleet in Mississippi. 20 MW of new generation planned here, other technologies leading 904 MW of operating power plants, mostly natural gas +5.6% total jobs since 2019, now 10,737 ## Cities and towns in Panola County Panola County is home to Batesville, Sardis and Como. Batesville7,325 residents Sardis1,670 residents Como1,064 residents Crenshaw495 residents · 81% of the city Courtland483 residents Pope261 residents Crowder240 residents · 46% of the city - Crenshaw also extends into [Quitman County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/quitman-county). - Crowder also extends into [Quitman County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/quitman-county). 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 Panola County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Mississippi | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 33,173 | 32,691 | ▼ 1.5% | 24th of 82 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 10,170 | 10,737 | ▲ 5.6% | 22nd of 82 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $37,638 | $45,819 | ▲ 21.7% | — | | Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 370 | 413 | ▲ 11.6% | 23rd of 45 by growth | | Electrical contractor jobs (2019 → 2025) | 102 | 98 | ▼ 3.9% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 7.0% | 3.9% | ▼ 3.1pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 13 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Planned generation (Aug 2026) | — | 20 MW | 2% of today's fleet | 13th of 14 by size | 13 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly solar. Employers here counted 10,737 jobs in 2025, up 5.6% from 2019. Electrical contractors employ 98, down 3.9% since 2019 against up 33.2% statewide, at an average $57,751 a year. Entergy Mississippi LLC is the largest utility serving Panola County, one of 2 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 13.21¢/kWh in 2024, above the 12.78¢ median for Mississippi utilities. 32,691 people live here, down 1.5% since 2020. ## Who powers Panola County ### Utilities with service territory in Panola County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Entergy Mississippi LLC | Investor Owned | Bundled | 384,611 | 13.21¢ | 39% | | Tallahatchie Valley E P A | Cooperative | Bundled | 21,493 | 12.41¢ | 32% | 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 | 891 MW | 99% | | Solar | 13 MW | 1% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Batesville Generation Facility | Cooperative Energy | Natural gas | 891 MW | 2000 | | SR Panola I, LLC | SR Panola I, LLC | Solar | 5 MW | 2024 | | SR Panola II, LLC | SR Panola II, LLC | Solar | 5 MW | 2024 | | SR Panola III, LLC | SR Panola III, LLC | Solar | 4 MW | 2024 | ### Planned generation | Plant | Technology | MW | Status | Year | Owner | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Sardis Lake Hydroelectric Project | Conventional Hydroelectric | 8 MW | Planned, approvals not started | 2028 | Rye Development | | Sardis Lake Hydroelectric Project | Conventional Hydroelectric | 8 MW | Planned, approvals not started | 2028 | Rye Development | | Enid Lake Hydroelectric Project | Conventional Hydroelectric | 2 MW | Planned, approvals not started | 2028 | Rye Development | | Enid Lake Hydroelectric Project | Conventional Hydroelectric | 2 MW | Planned, approvals not started | 2028 | Rye Development | ## The Panola County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 10,737 | $45,819 | 1.00 | | Construction | 413 | $59,761 | 0.73 | | Electrical contractors | 98 | $57,751 | 1.27 | 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 Panola County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Panola County. Mississippi has 1 local measure on record statewide. ## Panola County and its neighbors Of the 6 counties that border Panola County, Tallahatchie 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 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Panola County | 32,691 | ▲ 5.6% | 904 MW | 20 MW | — | — | | Lafayette County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/lafayette-county) | 59,597 | ▲ 6.6% | — | — | — | — | | Quitman County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/quitman-county) | 5,364 | ▼ 0.5% | — | — | — | — | | Tallahatchie County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/tallahatchie-county) | 10,877 | ▼ 2.0% | 100 MW | — | — | — | | Tate County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/tate-county) | 28,725 | ▲ 19.9% | — | — | — | — | | Tunica County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/tunica-county) | 8,819 | ▼ 26.8% | — | — | — | — | | Yalobusha County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/yalobusha-county) | 12,375 | ▼ 4.4% | — | — | — | — | ## More of Mississippi [All Mississippi countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi)[Lafayette County59,597 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/lafayette-county)[Tate County28,725 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/tate-county)[Yalobusha County12,375 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/yalobusha-county)[Tallahatchie County10,877 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/tallahatchie-county)[Tunica County8,819 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/tunica-county) ## Panola County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Panola County, Mississippi? 2 utilities have service territory in Panola County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Entergy Mississippi LLC, Tallahatchie Valley E P A. The largest, Entergy Mississippi LLC, charged residential customers 13.21¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Panola County? 4 operating plants with 904 MW of capacity. The largest is Batesville Generation Facility (891 MW, natural gas). ### How much new power is planned in Panola County? 20 MW across 4 units in the August 2026 EIA-860M inventory, 0 MW of it under construction or built. The largest owner is Rye Development. ### Are there data centers in Panola County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Panola County. ### Is Panola County adding jobs? Employers counted 10,737 jobs in 2025 against 10,170 in 2019 (+5.6%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 370 to 413. ### Does Panola County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Panola County. Mississippi has 1 local measure statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/panola-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/).