Ellington

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant says it's too risky for the state to invest in startup companies like failed solar equipment firm Twin Creeks.

The Republican says he's steering the Mississippi Development Authority away from loaning or giving money to such companies.

Bryant's predecessor, Republican Haley Barbour, defends the state's $27.7 million investment in Twin Creeks, a San Jose, Calif., firm that's liquidating after a bank pushed the company into selling its technology.

Barbour says he's confident that the company will repay any money that Mississippi officials can't get back from the building and equipment that were funded with state loans to the city of Senatobia.

Barbour also says the state's investments in Twin Creeks and a number other alternative energy firms under his administration were not overly risky.