Sustainable Energy Solutions
Southern Company is dedicated to delivering reliable and affordable energy to our customers and communities. We do this by upgrading and enhancing our infrastructure, protecting electric and natural gas infrastructure from physical and cyberthreats, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and incorporating distributed-generation solutions, among other initiatives, as we build the energy network of the future.
Serve Our Customers
Reliable energy is essential and powers the economy. We are at the forefront of industry-leading innovation and are making smart investments to help ensure reliable and resilient service for those we are privileged to serve. Southern Company and our electric and natural gas subsidiaries are making substantial investments in projects to minimize customer disruption, including during extreme conditions. Our investment strategies are informed by stakeholder input, scenario-based integrated resource planning processes and reviews by our state regulators.
- Our plans focus on upgrading transmission and distribution infrastructure across the power grid to improve the reliability and efficiency of our system and decrease the frequency and length of service disruptions.
- Our system planning efforts currently indicate that an array of electric-generating resources will be needed to meet growing electric demand in our service territories. We expect to meet this demand through an increase in renewable, zero-carbon and storage resources and the continued use of natural gas-fired generation, while reducing reliance on coal-fired generating assets.
- We take a proactive approach to infrastructure modernization and leak detection and repair for our pipeline distribution system.
- As we prepare for a new energy future, we routinely assess emerging technologies that can help us better serve customers while reducing our carbon footprint and maintaining affordability.
Track Record of Investing in Reliability and Resilience
For our electric utilities, we are working to ensure reliability, resilience and affordability as we transition our generating fleet to lower-carbon sources and deploy advanced, modern technologies and materials across our electrical grid. We are making substantial investments in projects designed to minimize customer disruption, including in extreme conditions.
- In 2022, all transmission-line construction projects at Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power were built with concrete or steel structures to enhance resilience during severe weather.
- Our operating companies have invested in fiber infrastructure and automation to create self-healing networks that are improving performance and the customer experience.
- We estimate our electric utilities will invest nearly $16 billion over the next five years (2023-2027) on grid improvement projects that include capital maintenance and infrastructure replacement, storm hardening, cyber and physical security and undergrounding.
For our gas utilities, we continuously monitor and conduct regular inspections of our systems to help ensure safety, security, reliability and resiliency, even under times of stress – sustainability is not separate but an extension of these core objectives. Our proactive infrastructure modernization and leak detection and repair efforts are a critical step toward reaching net zero by 2050.
- Because of the dedicated efforts of our team to replace legacy infrastructure with state-of-the-art corrosion-resistant pipes, as of the end of 2022, none of the distribution pipeline in our system consisted of cast or wrought iron steel, and only 0.2% was unprotected steel main. Pipeline replacement is recognized today as having the single most significant impact on methane emissions reductions in the gas industry’s distribution segment.
- We are expanding our use of technologies – including drones, satellites, stationary monitors and artificial intelligence-enabled cloud computing platforms – to better detect leaks and measure emissions. We continue to deploy Advanced Leak Detection Technology as part of the core approach for performing safety and compliance surveys in our business districts.
Impact & Results
In 2022, the Southern Company system’s operations team, electric generation fleet and power delivery system kept the lights on in the Southeast in difficult conditions. This included meeting all-time peak energy demands amid record-breaking June and December temperatures.
During the Christmas weekend of 2022, Winter Storm Elliott brought historic, extended frigid temperatures across the Southeast that were 20 to 30 degrees below normal in cities across our footprint, including Atlanta, Birmingham and Gulfport.
The skill and dedication of our employees – combined with prudent reliability-focused investments, effective procedures, communications and training – enabled our effective response to Winter Storm Elliott.
Leadership & Partnership
Georgia Power was ranked number one for residential customer satisfaction among Large Utilities in the South by J.D. Power in its 2022 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction StudySM. Most notably, Georgia Power was highest among all utilities in the segment in three key areas – Price, Corporate Citizenship and Customer Care.
The company also was recently ranked number one for business customer satisfaction among Large Utilities in the South by J.D. Power in its 2022 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction StudySM. Read more here.
"From the mountains of north Georgia to the coast, our teams work around the clock to deliver safe, clean, reliable and affordable electric service to the homes of millions of Georgians," said Bentina Terry, senior vice president of Customer Strategy & Solutions for Georgia Power. "The key to our success continues to be a focus on exceeding our customers' expectations, evolving our offerings to meet the changing needs of our customers across every aspect of our business, and making our communities better by fulfilling our longstanding mission to be A Citizen Wherever We Serve. This recognition by J.D. Power celebrates all of our employees who are champions for our customers, every day, in every decision they make.”
-Bentina Terry
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Alignment
Southern Company has mapped our corporate sustainability priorities to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals framework, indicating our alignment with a sustainable future.
