southern-company utility georgia nuclear coal monopoly rate-base
related: NextEra Energy Koch Industries US Chamber of Commerce
Who They Are
Southern Company. The second-largest utility company in the United States ($25 billion revenue, 2024), headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Southern Company operates regulated electric utilities in Georgia (Georgia Power), Alabama (Alabama Power), Mississippi (Mississippi Power), and the Southeast through Southern Company Gas. The company serves 9 million customers across 6 states.
Southern Company PAC is one of the largest utility PACs in the country ($3-5 million per cycle), with lobbying spending of $10-15 million annually. Southern Company’s political operation extends to state-level regulatory capture: the company has systematically influenced the appointment of Public Service Commission (PSC) members in Georgia and Alabama who approve its rate increases.
What They Want
Favorable rate increases from state PSCs, nuclear power subsidies (Plant Vogtle), coal plant cost recovery, opposition to competitive electricity markets (which would end Southern’s monopoly), favorable EPA emissions standards that allow continued fossil fuel operation, and reduced renewable energy mandates.
What They’ve Gotten
Plant Vogtle Cost Overruns: Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 — the first new US nuclear reactors in 30 years — were originally budgeted at $14 billion and completed at $35+ billion, with costs passed to Georgia Power ratepayers through PSC-approved rate increases. The project’s cost doubled, the schedule slipped by 7+ years, and the contractor (Westinghouse) went bankrupt — but Georgia ratepayers bear the cost because the PSC approved cost recovery through utility bills. The Vogtle project is the definitive case study of a regulated utility socializing losses while privatizing the operational asset.
Regulatory Capture: Southern Company’s influence over state PSC appointments in Georgia and Alabama has been documented through campaign contributions to PSC candidates, lobbying of governors who appoint PSC members, and revolving door employment between the company and regulatory bodies. The PSC members who approve Southern Company’s rate increases are, in many cases, products of Southern Company’s political operation.
Money
Plant Vogtle’s $35 billion cost — $21 billion over budget — is paid by Georgia Power’s 2.7 million customers through rate increases approved by PSC commissioners whom Southern Company helped elect. The cost overrun represents a $21 billion wealth transfer from ratepayers to contractors, consultants, and the company’s rate base (utilities earn a guaranteed return on their rate base; a more expensive plant means a larger rate base and higher guaranteed profits). Southern Company’s $10-15 million annual political investment in PSC influence and lobbying purchased the regulatory approvals that authorized this transfer.
Sources
- OpenSecrets: Southern Company organizational profile (Tier 1)
- NRC: Plant Vogtle construction and licensing (Tier 1)
- Ballotpedia: Southern Company (Tier 3)
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