Policy Engagement and Advocacy

Policy Engagement and Advocacy

As a leading energy company serving many communities through our subsidiaries, it is important to Southern Company's business success to participate in the political process. Having constructive relationships with policymakers allows us to deliver clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy to our customers. We make political contributions in compliance with the laws and regulations that govern such contributions. We also engage directly with lawmakers and regulators and participate in trade associations and industry groups that, among their many activities, engage in lobbying and advocacy on various matters.

Working with trade associations, groups and coalitions is an effective way to participate in the legislative and regulatory process. Through these efforts, we provide information to stakeholders, legislators, and regulators (and their respective staffs) on complex legislative, regulatory and technology issues that impact the energy industry.

Southern Company does not always agree with or endorse all positions taken by the trade associations, groups and coalitions in which it is a member. As part of our governance processes, to ensure policy alignment with our long-term, customer-centric business objectives, we routinely assess our participation in trade associations, groups and coalitions that are active on a broad range of issues.

Southern Company has put in place decision-making and oversight processes for political expenditures and all governmental relations activities. Both management and the Board of Directors play important roles in these governance processes, including independent director oversight of political expenditures and lobbying activities.

We place great importance on consistent dialogue with all our stakeholders, including customers, regulators, employees and investors. We are receptive to stakeholder concerns, and we are committed to transparency and proactive interactions with our stakeholders.

Southern Company is pleased to provide a comprehensive report that includes (1) the lobbying portion of annual dues ($50,000 or more) paid by Southern Company and its subsidiaries to trade associations engaged in state or federal lobbying, and (2) political contributions made by the Company and its subsidiaries. We also provide historical reports for these items

Energy for Our Future

Customer demand for energy is growing rapidly across the United States, including in Southern Company’s service territories. To meet this demand, the Southern Company system is hard at work expanding capacity and infrastructure to strengthen and secure the energy grid. Through an “all of the above” approach to generation resources, infrastructure and technology investments, we aim to enhance reliability and energy security, build a more resilient, clean energy future and take care of our communities — while also remaining focused on affordability for customers.

Our vision extends far beyond today — we plan for tomorrow, the next ten years and decades to come. We are well-positioned for the future thanks to our disciplined and proactive planning processes that are a hallmark of our vertically integrated, state-regulated market structure for our electric utilities. We also take a disciplined approach to system enhancements and expansion across our regulated natural gas utilities.

Southern Company recognizes the importance of climate change and has set a goal to reduce Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050¹. Since 2007, we have economically transitioned our generating fleet to include lower-carbon and carbon-free fuel sources, reducing our Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions.

We make recommendations to state regulatory agencies that appropriately consider costs to serve customers with reliable energy while recognizing potential future environmental and fuel supply pressures. It is important that we, with oversight from state regulators and input from local stakeholders, retain the ability to plan and deploy infrastructure that affordably and reliably meets the needs of all customers and communities. Our infrastructure investment analyses, and system expansion strategies include:

• Efficient use of natural gas
• Continued assessment of coal-fired generating assets, with the use of environmental control technologies
• Further growth in our portfolio of clean energy resources, including nuclear energy, renewables, hydroelectric power, renewable natural gas and energy storage
• Continued deployment of modern energy distribution systems that adapt to changing conditions to serve customer needs
• Enhanced demand response, energy efficiency initiatives and distributed energy resources
• Continued investment in research and development of emerging clean energy technologies, including carbon capture, storage and sequestration and advanced nuclear

Engaging with Policymakers

When engaging with policymakers, we advocate for durable energy policies that support the development and deployment of reliable and cost-effective energy resources, including low-carbon and carbon-free generating sources and solutions that enhance optionality across the entire energy value chain:

• We support regulations that provide constructive solutions to problems affecting our customers and communities, the environment and the economy. Requirements should be supported by sound data and analysis and proven technologies, while considering other statutes and regulations at the federal, state and local level.
• We support establishing and expanding long-term stable funding in energy research, development, demonstration and deployment that enables breakthrough technologies and strategies that optimize economy-wide outcomes.
• We support maintaining tax policies, such as production tax credits and investment tax credits, that recognize the breadth of energy solutions needed to reliably and affordably meet customer needs.

Stakeholder Engagement and Transparency

We regularly engage with investors and other stakeholders on these topics, and we provide extensive disclosures on our website that are responsive to their feedback. We will continue to meet with interested parties, listen to their points of view and share our perspectives.

¹Our ability to achieve this goal is dependent on many factors, many of which are outside our control, including load growth, energy policy and regulations, natural gas prices, customer demand for carbon-free energy, and the development and deployment of low- to no-GHG energy technologies.