Southern Company earned $2.05 billion as Georgia's new commission weighs who pays for its $100 billion plan
Southern Company's $2.05 billion quarter and a potential $100 billion data-center build plan landed the same week Georgia's utility regulator flipped to Democrats, putting the question of who pays the bills back in play.
Vincent Jiangthree-minute read
Southern Company's−1.07% — Southern Company, down 1.07 percent today $2.05 billion third quarter reads like a win for everyone 48. It is not. The quarter, its growing book of data-center contracts and a $100 billion build plan landed the same week Georgia voters handed the regulator that sets the bills to the other party 48. The bill fight is now the whole story.
The quarter beat, and the beat was billed to somebody
The parent of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi Power reported net income of $2.05 billion for the three months to September 30, up from $1.71 billion a year earlier, on revenue of $8.84 billion, a 13% rise that beat the $8.41 billion consensus by about $430 million 12. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.94 against a $1.58 forecast 12.
Alabama Power alone earned $661 million, up 12.4%, with operating revenue up 8.2% to $2.51 billion 13. Management names the drivers: a warmer summer, more electricity use, customer growth, and higher revenue from large commercial and industrial customers, the bucket data centers sit in 1.
The $100 billion bill, and the fine print
Hart Energy reports management is positioning its expanding portfolio of data-center contracts to support a potential $100 billion, five-year capital program: new plants, pipelines and grid 5. The same earnings release lists customer affordability among the risks that could affect future results, and announced no rate change and no bill relief 1.
Capital spending has outrun operating cash flow in six of the last eight quarters
- Capital spending
- Operating cash flow
Data
| Capital spending | Operating cash flow | |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 '24 | $2.52B | $2.17B |
| Q1 '25 | $2.6B | $1.25B |
| Q2 '25 | $2.64B | $2.18B |
| Q3 '25 | $3.1B | $3.77B |
| Q4 '25 | $4.05B | $2.6B |
| Q1 '26 | $3.2B | $1.23B |
| Q2 '26 | $3.13B | $3.05B |
| Q3 '26 | $3.26B | $3.6B |
That is the tension: the quarter's profits come from selling more power, while the cost of building for the next customer is a regulatory question, not a settled one 4.
Southern Company's third-quarter profit is the largest in eight quarters
- Revenue ($B)
- Net income ($B)
Data
| Revenue ($B) | Net income ($B) | |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 '24 | 6.34 | 0.53 |
| Q1 '25 | 7.78 | 1.33 |
| Q2 '25 | 6.97 | 0.88 |
| Q3 '25 | 7.82 | 1.71 |
| Q4 '25 | 6.98 | 0.42 |
| Q1 '26 | 8.4 | 1.36 |
| Q2 '26 | 6.98 | 1.17 |
| Q3 '26 | 8.84 | 2.05 |
The commission that sets the bills just flipped
On November 3 Georgia elected a 3-2 Democratic majority to the Public Service Commission, the first in 30 years, after campaigns funded partly by more than $4 million from environmental groups arguing homeowners should not subsidize infrastructure built for tech operations 78. The incoming commission plans an Affordability Docket to review how data-center costs are allocated, and Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms has called for a pause on new data-center approvals until consumer protections exist 8.
Georgia Power counters that large-load contracts signed under last year's rules already protect residential ratepayers 8. Meanwhile the Alabama Supreme Court rejected Energy Alabama's bid to intervene in the docket that sets part of Alabama Power's bills, and Georgia Power has reversed course on closing most of its coal plants by 2030 34.
What the bulls see, and what they miss
Dividend investors are buying SO as the boring AI play: a 3.47% yield, a 67% payout ratio, a stock near $92 against a $106 billion market cap 26. But insiders sold $5.6 million of stock over the past twelve months with no buying reported, and retail bills, not Wall Street, ultimately fund a regulated utility's build 24. Watch the Affordability Docket and the next Georgia rate case; whichever way the new commission rules on data-center cost allocation decides whether that $100 billion is shielded or shared 8.
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