Georgia and Alabama: Southern Company’s key markets
Southern Company: An American energy titan (Part 4 of 17)
Southern Company’s utility business
The utility business forms the core of Southern Company’s (SO) operations. As mentioned in the previous article, Southern Company’s regulated utilities business operates in the following four U.S. states: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida. It provides electricity to nearly 4.5 million people in these four states.
Southern Company’s subsidiaries
Southern Company serves its utility customers through the following four wholly owned subsidiaries:
Alabama Power. Provides electricity in the state of Alabama
Georgia Power. Provides electricity in the state of Georgia
Mississippi Power. Provides electricity in the state of Mississippi
Gulf Power. Provides electricity in the state of Florida
Southern Company’s utilities by number of customers
Georgia Power is the largest of Southern Company’s utility subsidiaries. It serves 2.4 million customers, which is equivalent to 54% of Southern Company’s total customers. Alabama Power supplies electricity to 1.4 million customers in the state of Alabama and is Southern Company’s next largest subsidiary. The two subsidiaries are important to Southern Company as they constitute 86% of its total utility customers.
Gulf Power and Mississippi Power serve 10% and 4%, respectively, of Southern Company’s total customers.
Southern Company (SO) has the fourth-largest customer base in the United States among all electric utilities . Duke Energy (DUK), Exelon Corporation (EXC), and NextEra Energy (NEE) have the highest customer base with 7.2 million, 6.7 million, and 4.7 million electric consumers, respectively. These companies form the top five holdings of the Utilities Select Sector Standard & Poors (or SPDR) (XLU).
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