New Ventures
Identifying and implementing emerging technology solutions
New Ventures is a strategic innovator, catalyzer, and collaborator that drives transformative impact across Southern Company. Our engagement with Energy Impact Partners, local venture funds, large technology companies, and forward thinking customers provides a unique, long-term perspective to the business. We use this perspective to accelerate value add innovation, working with partners to develop and implement solutions that create customer and utility value.
Primary areas of focus
Serving our customers better, faster, and more efficiently while continuing to deliver clean, safe, reliable, and affordable energy; introducing novel technology pilots and solutions to Southern Company; driving value and impact; and leading to transformational scaled solutions based on needs that address internal challenges and opportunities.
Transforming Our Business
Potential solutions include efficiency tools, AI and data-driven solutions for business process optimization and future workforce.
Optimizing Sevice
Potential solutions include AI, grid enhancing technologies (GETs), interconnection, DERMs controls, batteries, planning and grid optimization
Enhancing Customer Value
Potential solutions include demand flexibility, large load efficiency, sensors, disaggregated data for personalized insights, affordability and decarbonization.
Portfolio Examples
New Ventures is helping facilitate the implementation of innovative solutions across the Southern Company system to enhance customer value, transform our business and optimize service to sustainably serve our growing customer base. These are in addition to multiple previously scaled solutions that are now operating permanently within the company.
The following companies and their solutions demonstrate current or previous pilot examples within our focus areas that address a variety of themes, including grid-enhancing technologies (GETs), asset management, emissions reporting, energy efficiency, customer personalization, managed charging for fleets and grid operations.
Themes
- Grid Enhancing Technologies
- Asset Management
- Customer Solutions
- Energy Efficiency
- Customer Personalization
- AI Models
- Grid Operations
A dynamic line rating technology designed to help increase transmission capacity.
Generation and customer data-driven platform to provide 24/7 carbon free energy reporting solutions for large customers.
Provides subsurface maps using image scanning technologies to enhance safety for customers and mitigation costs for our teams.
Energy-efficient commercial gas water heating and energy-efficient natural gas heat pump.
Residential energy disaggregation with proactive vegetation management insights co-development.
Hyper-efficient commercial air conditioning pilot with Waffle House.
Air duct sealing for new homes and businesses to reduce energy consumption/emissions, improve comfort, and indoor air quality.
Digital twin layouts of facilities using image scanning technologies to more efficiently manage assets and critical data.
The most-deployed non-contact sensor and patented software for reliable dynamic line rating (DLR), transmission monitoring and grid analytics to quickly increase available instantaneous capacity.
Managed charging for Southern Company’s Ford F-150 Lightening fleet, focused on hourly price signaling and demand response to provide grid capacity and future guidance for customers with fleets.
Unlocking residential flexible load and grid benefits by empowering customers to take control of their home energy usage through Samsung SmartThings.