The story
Southern Company can be traced back to 1924, when Southeastern Power & Light was formed as a holding company for Alabama Traction, Light and Power (formed 1906), the immediate forerunner of Alabama Power. Later that year, it formed Mississippi Power as a subsidiary, with Gulf Power following in 1925. In 1926, it merged with Georgia Power (formed 1902).
In 1930, Southeastern Power & Light merged into the Commonwealth & Southern Corporation. The new system included five Northern companies and six Southern companies. However, in the late 1940s Commonwealth & Southern was dissolved to meet the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. Four of Commonwealth & Southern's Deep South operating companies—Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, and Mississippi Power—were deemed to be an integrated system and thus were allowed to remain under common ownership. A new holding company, Southern Company, was incorporated in Delaware on November 9, 1945. It commenced operation in 1949, and moved to Georgia in 1950. In 1954–55, the company was involved in the Dixon-Yates contract with the Atomic Energy Commission, and the associated political controversy.
In 1981, Southern Company became the first electric utility holding company in 46 years to diversify its operations by forming an unregulated subsidiary. In January 1982, Southern Energy, Inc., began official operations as a global energy company, growing to serve 10 countries on four continents. On April 2, 2001, Southern Company completed the spinoff of Southern Energy as Mirant Corporation. Another Southern Company subsidiary—Southern Nuclear—began providing services in 1991 to the system's nuclear power plants.
In 1996, Southern Communications Services began providing digital wireless communications services to Southern Company's subsidiaries and also began marketing these services to the public within the Southeast as Southern Linc. Southern Telecom, a telecommunications subsidiary of Southern Company, was founded in 1997. Southern Telecom provides colocation and dark fiber optic lines to network businesses. On January 9, 2001, Southern Company received final approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to form Southern Power, a subsidiary to own, manage and finance wholesale generating assets in the Southeast. The new subsidiary targets wholesale customers. On July 19, 2002, Southern Company Gas received certification from the Georgia Public Service Commission to enter the retail gas market. After nearly four years of operations, the company was sold and customers transferred to Cobb EMC's newly formed affiliate, Gas South. In 2011, Southern Company and Turner Renewable Energy purchased a 30 MW solar project from First Solar. Located in Cimarron, New Mexico, it began generating electricity in 2011. In June 2012, the Nacogdoches Generating Facility began its commercial operation. The facility is a 115 MW biomass-fueled electric generating plant, located near Sacul in Nacogdoches County, Texas.
In 2016, Southern Company acquired PowerSecure, a distributed energy infrastructure technologies company, and AGL Resources (which was renamed Southern Company Gas). The takeover of AGL was valued at $12 billion, including $8 billion of equity. As a result of the AGL Resources merger, Southern Company doubled its customer base to approximately 9 million and expanded its footprint and broadened the scope of its business by increasing its natural gas presence. In 2018, Southern Company sold Gulf Power and its gas plant shares of 100% in Plant Oleander and 65% in Stanton Energy Center to NextEra for $6.5 billion.
In September 2023, it was announced Southern Company's subsidiary, Southern Power had acquired the 200MW Millers Branch Solar Facility in Haskell County, Texas from EDF Renewables North America, for an undisclosed amount.
In February 2026, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) awarded a $26.54 billion loan to Southern Company, the largest loan in DOE's history. The loan will finance 16 GW of power, including about 5 GW of new natural gas generation, 6 GW of nuclear upgrades and license renewals, hydropower modernization, battery energy storage systems, and 1,300 miles of transmission infrastructure and grid enhancement projects. The loan will be split between subsidiaries Georgia Power receiving $22.4 billion and Alabama Power receiving $4.1 billion.
From Wikipedia’s article on Southern Company, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8