v3.25.0.1
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Tables)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2024
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Schedule of costs for affiliate transactions Costs for these services from SCS in 2024, 2023, and 2022 were as follows:
Alabama
Power		Georgia
Power		Mississippi
Power		Southern
Power		Southern Company Gas
(in millions)
2024$813 $1,197 $130 $93 $290 
2023611 857 113 86 261 
2022549 762 115 86 262 
Mississippi Power's and Southern Power's power purchases from affiliates through the Southern Company power pool are included in purchased power on their respective statements of income and were as follows:
Mississippi
Power		Southern
Power
(in millions)
2024$8 $17 
20234 13 
20224 29 
Transportation costs under these agreements in 2024, 2023, and 2022 were as follows:
Alabama
Power		Georgia
Power		Southern
Power		Southern Company Gas
(in millions)
2024$13 $103 $35 $28 
202312 101 34 28 
202218 99 37 27 
The approximate rates for 2024, 2023, and 2022 were as follows:
202420232022
Alabama Power4.2 %4.1 %2.7 %
Georgia Power3.4 %3.8 %3.3 %
Mississippi Power3.3 %3.4 %3.4 %
Southern Company Gas2.9 %2.7 %2.7 %
Schedule of total AFUDC and interest capitalized
Total AFUDC and interest capitalized for the applicable Registrants in 2024, 2023, and 2022 was as follows:
Southern CompanyAlabama
Power
Georgia
Power(*)
Southern
Power		Southern Company Gas
(in millions)
2024$339 $76 $209 $7 $47 
2023400 109 251 3 37 
2022327 90 213 — 24 
(*)See Note 2 under "Georgia Power – Nuclear Construction" for information on the inclusion of a portion of construction costs related to Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in Georgia Power's rate base through each unit's respective in-service date.
Schedule of average AFUDC composite rates
The average AFUDC composite rates for 2024, 2023, and 2022 for the traditional electric operating companies and the natural gas distribution utilities were as follows:
202420232022
Alabama Power8.1 %8.1 %7.9 %
Georgia Power(a)
7.7 %7.6 %7.3 %
Mississippi Power(b)
— %— %5.3 %
Southern Company Gas:
Atlanta Gas Light7.7 %7.4 %7.6 %
Chattanooga Gas7.1 %7.1 %7.1 %
Nicor Gas5.6 %4.6 %2.0 %
(a)Excludes AFUDC related to the construction of Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in 2022 and 2023 and Plant Vogtle Unit 4 in 2024. See Note 2 under "Georgia Power – Nuclear Construction" for additional information.
(b)Mississippi Power's AFUDC was immaterial in 2024 and 2023.
Schedule of goodwill balances
At December 31, 2024 and 2023, goodwill was as follows:
At December 31, 2024At December 31, 2023
(in millions)
Southern Company$5,161 $5,161 
Southern Company Gas:
Gas distribution operations$4,034 $4,034 
Gas marketing services981 981 
Southern Company Gas total$5,015 $5,015 
Schedule of intangible assets subject to amortization
At December 31, 2024 and 2023, other intangible assets were as follows:
At December 31, 2024At December 31, 2023
Gross Carrying AmountAccumulated AmortizationOther
Intangible Assets, Net		Gross Carrying AmountAccumulated AmortizationOther
Intangible Assets, Net
(in millions)(in millions)
Southern Company
Subject to amortization:
Customer relationships$212 $(182)$30 $212 $(172)$40 
Trade names64 (59)5 64 (53)11 
PPA fair value adjustments390 (168)222 390 (148)242 
Other3 (3)— 3 (3)— 
Total subject to amortization$669 $(412)$257 $669 $(376)$293 
Not subject to amortization:
FCC licenses75 — 75 75 — 75 
Total other intangible assets$744 $(412)$332 $744 $(376)$368 
Southern Power(*)
PPA fair value adjustments$390 $(168)$222 $390 $(148)$242 
Southern Company Gas(*)
Gas marketing services
Customer relationships$156 $(150)$6 $156 $(145)$11 
Trade names26 (23)3 26 (21)5 
Total other intangible assets$182 $(173)$9 $182 $(166)$16 
(*)All subject to amortization.
Schedule of intangible assets not subject to amortization
At December 31, 2024 and 2023, other intangible assets were as follows:
At December 31, 2024At December 31, 2023
Gross Carrying AmountAccumulated AmortizationOther
Intangible Assets, Net		Gross Carrying AmountAccumulated AmortizationOther
Intangible Assets, Net
(in millions)(in millions)
Southern Company
Subject to amortization:
Customer relationships$212 $(182)$30 $212 $(172)$40 
Trade names64 (59)5 64 (53)11 
PPA fair value adjustments390 (168)222 390 (148)242 
Other3 (3)— 3 (3)— 
Total subject to amortization$669 $(412)$257 $669 $(376)$293 
Not subject to amortization:
FCC licenses75 — 75 75 — 75 
Total other intangible assets$744 $(412)$332 $744 $(376)$368 
Southern Power(*)
PPA fair value adjustments$390 $(168)$222 $390 $(148)$242 
Southern Company Gas(*)
Gas marketing services
Customer relationships$156 $(150)$6 $156 $(145)$11 
Trade names26 (23)3 26 (21)5 
Total other intangible assets$182 $(173)$9 $182 $(166)$16 
(*)All subject to amortization.
Schedule of amortization associated with other intangible assets
Amortization associated with other intangible assets in 2024, 2023, and 2022 was as follows:
202420232022
(in millions)
Southern Company(a)
$35 $38 $39 
Southern Power(b)
20 20 20 
Southern Company Gas
Gas marketing services7 10 11 
(a)Includes $20 million annually recorded as a reduction to operating revenues.
(b)Recorded as a reduction to operating revenues.
Schedule of estimated future amortization of other intangible assets
At December 31, 2024, the estimated amortization associated with other intangible assets for the next five years is as follows:
20252026202720282029
(in millions)
Southern Company$32 $27 $23 $23 $23 
Southern Power20 20 20 20 19 
Southern Company Gas
Gas marketing services6 3 — — — 
Schedule of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash
The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within the balance sheets that total to the amount shown in the statements of cash flows for the applicable Registrants:
Southern
Company
Alabama Power
Georgia
Power		Southern
Power		Southern
Company Gas
(in millions)
At December 31, 2024
Cash and cash equivalents$1,070 $585 $97 $159 $43 
Restricted cash(a):
Other current assets31 — 21 9 1 
Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash(b)
$1,101 $585 $118 $168 $44 
At December 31, 2023
Cash and cash equivalents$748 $324 $9 $124 $33 
Restricted cash(a):
Other current assets141 85 37 17 2 
Other deferred charges and assets31 — 29 3 — 
Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash(b)
$921 $409 $75 $144 $35 
(a)For Alabama Power and Georgia Power, reflects proceeds from the issuance of solid waste disposal facility revenue bonds in 2023 and 2022, respectively. See Note 8 under "Long-term Debt" for additional information. For Southern Power, reflects $9 million and $17 million at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, resulting from an arbitration award held to fund future replacement costs and $3 million at December 31, 2023 held to fund estimated construction completion costs at the Deuel Harvest wind facility. For Southern Company Gas, reflects collateral for workers' compensation, life insurance, and long-term disability insurance.
(b)Total may not add due to rounding.
Reconciliation of restricted cash and cash equivalents
The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within the balance sheets that total to the amount shown in the statements of cash flows for the applicable Registrants:
Southern
Company
Alabama Power
Georgia
Power		Southern
Power		Southern
Company Gas
(in millions)
At December 31, 2024
Cash and cash equivalents$1,070 $585 $97 $159 $43 
Restricted cash(a):
Other current assets31 — 21 9 1 
Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash(b)
$1,101 $585 $118 $168 $44 
At December 31, 2023
Cash and cash equivalents$748 $324 $9 $124 $33 
Restricted cash(a):
Other current assets141 85 37 17 2 
Other deferred charges and assets31 — 29 3 — 
Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash(b)
$921 $409 $75 $144 $35 
(a)For Alabama Power and Georgia Power, reflects proceeds from the issuance of solid waste disposal facility revenue bonds in 2023 and 2022, respectively. See Note 8 under "Long-term Debt" for additional information. For Southern Power, reflects $9 million and $17 million at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, resulting from an arbitration award held to fund future replacement costs and $3 million at December 31, 2023 held to fund estimated construction completion costs at the Deuel Harvest wind facility. For Southern Company Gas, reflects collateral for workers' compensation, life insurance, and long-term disability insurance.
(b)Total may not add due to rounding.
Schedule of regulatory assets
Storm damage reserve activity for the traditional electric operating companies during 2023 and 2024 was as follows:
Southern
Company
Alabama Power
Georgia Power
Mississippi
Power
 (in millions)
Balance at December 31, 2022$216 $97 $83 $36 
Accrual61 18 31 12 
Weather-related damages
(211)(39)(168)(4)
Balance at December 31, 2023$66 $76 $(54)$44 
Accrual79 34 31 14 
Weather-related damages
(850)(40)(804)(6)
Balance at December 31, 2024$(705)$70 $(827)$52 
The traditional electric operating companies accrued the following amounts related to storm damage recovery in 2022:
Southern
Company
Alabama
Power
Georgia
Power
Mississippi
Power
(in millions)
2022$239 $19 $213 $7 
During 2024, 2023, and 2022, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power accrued the following amounts to their reliability reserves:
Southern
Company		Alabama
Power		Mississippi
Power
(in millions)
2024$84 $63 $21 
202363 52 11 
2022191 166 25 
Details of regulatory assets and (liabilities) reflected in the balance sheets at December 31, 2024 and 2023 are provided in the following tables:
Southern CompanyAlabama PowerGeorgia PowerMississippi PowerSouthern Company Gas
(in millions)
At December 31, 2024
AROs(*)
$5,810 $1,906 $3,658 $248 $— 
Retiree benefit plans(*)
2,605 680 892 134 44 
Remaining net book value of retired assets
1,198 454 729 15 — 
Deferred income tax charges
927 264 634 27 — 
Storm damage
859 — 827 32 — 
Deferred depreciation
535 286 249 — — 
Environmental remediation(*)
249 — 16 — 233 
Vacation pay(*)
224 85 112 12 15 
Loss on reacquired debt
219 32 183 4 — 
Software and cloud computing costs
200 76 116 4 4 
Under recovered regulatory clause revenues
167 119 — 17 31 
Regulatory clauses
162 82 — — 80 
Nuclear outage
92 39 53 — — 
Fuel-hedging (realized and unrealized) losses
69 23 29 17 — 
Qualifying repairs of natural gas distribution systems
53 — — — 53 
Long-term debt fair value adjustment
52 — — — 52 
Plant Daniel Units 3 and 4
23 — — 23 — 
Other regulatory assets
184 42 40 30 72 
Deferred income tax credits
(4,536)(1,398)(2,149)(219)(755)
Other cost of removal obligations
(1,176)24 816 (170)(1,846)
Over recovered regulatory clause revenues
(285)(29)(52)— (204)
Reliability reserves
(188)(131)— (57)— 
Storm/property damage reserves
(122)(70)— (52)— 
Nuclear fuel disposal cost recovery
(100)(100)— — — 
Other regulatory liabilities
(180)(28)(14)(6)(31)
Total regulatory assets (liabilities), net$7,041 $2,356 $6,139 $59 $(2,252)
Southern CompanyAlabama PowerGeorgia PowerMississippi PowerSouthern Company Gas
(in millions)
At December 31, 2023
AROs(*)
$5,733 $1,936 $3,505 $247 $— 
Retiree benefit plans(*)
3,011 815 976 140 146 
Remaining net book value of retired assets
1,357 499 841 17 — 
Deferred income tax charges
897 262 605 28 — 
Under recovered regulatory clause revenues
413 381 — 12 20 
Fuel-hedging (realized and unrealized) losses
270 100 121 49 — 
Deferred depreciation
270 143 127 — — 
Environmental remediation(*)
255 — 20 — 235 
Loss on reacquired debt
238 35 197 5 1 
Vacation pay(*)
217 83 107 11 16 
Software and cloud computing costs
150 59 84 2 5 
Regulatory clauses
140 112 — — 28 
Storm damage
92 — 54 38 — 
Nuclear outage
83 50 33 — — 
Long-term debt fair value adjustment
60 — — — 60 
Qualifying repairs of natural gas distribution systems
40 — — — 40 
Plant Daniel Units 3 and 4
25 — — 25 — 
Other regulatory assets
189 39 33 25 93 
Deferred income tax credits
(4,686)(1,506)(2,161)(241)(759)
Other cost of removal obligations
(1,312)28 617 (186)(1,771)
Over recovered regulatory clause revenues
(287)(3)(46)— (238)
Reliability reserves
(179)(143)— (36)— 
Storm/property damage reserves
(120)(76)— (44)— 
Other regulatory liabilities
(333)(94)(23)(2)(101)
Total regulatory assets (liabilities), net$6,523 $2,720 $5,090 $90 $(2,225)
(*)Generally not earning a return as they are excluded from rate base or are offset in rate base by a corresponding asset or liability.
Unless otherwise noted, the following recovery and amortization periods for these regulatory assets and (liabilities) have been approved by the respective state PSC or regulatory agency:
AROs and other cost of removal obligations – Generally recorded over the related property lives, which may range up to 64 years for Alabama Power, 54 years for Georgia Power, 67 years for Mississippi Power, and 85 years for Southern Company Gas. AROs and other cost of removal obligations are settled and trued up following completion of the related activities. Alabama Power is recovering CCR ARO expenditures over a 38-year period ending in 2054 through Rate CNP Compliance. Effective January 1, 2023, Georgia Power is recovering CCR ARO expenditures over four-year periods through its ECCR tariff. Prior to 2023, expenditures were recovered over three-year periods. See "Georgia Power – Rate Plans" herein and Note 6 for additional information.
Retiree benefit plans – Recovered and amortized over the average remaining service period, which may range up to 14 years for Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Mississippi Power, and Southern Company Gas. Southern Company's balances also include amounts at SCS and Southern Nuclear that are allocated to the applicable regulated utilities. See Note 11 for additional information.
Remaining net book value of retired assets –
Alabama Power: Primarily represents the net book value of Plant Gorgas Unit 10 ($419 million at December 31, 2024) being amortized over 13 years (through 2037) and Plant Barry Unit 4 ($35 million at December 31, 2024) being amortized over 10 years (through 2034). See "Alabama Power – Environmental Accounting Order" herein for additional information.
Georgia Power: Net book values of Plant Wansley Units 1 and 2 and Plant Hammond Units 3 and 4 (totaling $418 million and $302 million, respectively, at December 31, 2024) are being amortized over remaining periods between one and 11 years (between 2025 and 2035). Balance also includes unusable materials and supplies inventories, for which the Georgia PSC will determine a recovery period in a future base rate case.
Mississippi Power: Represents net book value of certain environmental compliance assets at Plant Watson and Plant Greene County. The retail portion is being amortized over 10 years (through 2033) and the wholesale portion is being amortized over 10 years (through 2034). See "Mississippi Power – Environmental Compliance Overview Plan" herein for additional information.
Deferred income tax charges and credits – Charges are recovered and credits are primarily amortized over the related property lives, which may range up to 64 years for Alabama Power, 54 years for Georgia Power, 67 years for Mississippi Power, and 85 years for Southern Company Gas. See Note 10 for additional information. These accounts include certain deferred income tax assets and liabilities not subject to normalization, as described further below:
Alabama Power: Related amounts at December 31, 2024 include excess federal deferred income tax liabilities that are available for the benefit of customers in 2025, as discussed under "Alabama Power – Excess Accumulated Deferred Income Tax Accounting Order" herein. Remaining amounts are being recovered and amortized ratably over the related property lives.
Georgia Power: Related amounts at December 31, 2024 include $135 million of deferred income tax assets related to construction costs for Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 being recovered over 10 years (through 2034) and $102 million of excess state deferred income tax liabilities that will be returned to customers in 2025. See "Georgia Power – Nuclear Construction – Regulatory Matters" herein for additional information on recovery of costs related to Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4.
Southern Company Gas: Related amounts at December 31, 2024 include $24 million of deferred income tax liabilities being amortized over periods generally not exceeding five years, primarily related to excess state deferred income tax liabilities. See "Southern Company Gas – Rate Proceedings" herein for additional information.
Storm damage – See "Georgia Power – Storm Damage Recovery" herein and Note 1 under "Storm Damage and Reliability Reserves" for additional information. Mississippi Power's balance represents deferred storm costs associated with Hurricanes Ida and Zeta being recovered through PEP over seven years (through 2029).
Deferred depreciation –
Alabama Power: Represents deferred depreciation for Plant Barry Unit 5 ($114 million at December 31, 2024) and Plant Barry common coal assets ($48 million at December 31, 2024) to be amortized until 2036 beginning when Plant Barry Unit 5 is retired and Plant Gaston Unit 5 coal assets ($124 million at December 31, 2024) to be amortized until 2039 beginning when the assets are retired.
Georgia Power: Represents deferred depreciation for Plant Scherer Units 1 through 3 ($139 million at December 31, 2024) to be amortized over six years beginning in 2029 and Plant Bowen Units 1 and 2 ($80 million at December 31, 2024) to be amortized over four years beginning in 2031, both as approved under Georgia Power's 2022 ARP, and Plant Vogtle Unit 3 and common facilities ($29 million at December 31, 2024) being amortized over 10 years (through 2034). See "Georgia Power – Nuclear Construction – Regulatory Matters" herein for additional information on recovery of costs related to Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4.
Environmental remediation – Effective January 1, 2023, Georgia Power is recovering $5 million annually for environmental remediation under the 2022 ARP. Southern Company Gas' costs are recovered through environmental cost recovery mechanisms when the remediation work is performed. See Note 3 under "Environmental Remediation" for additional information.
Vacation pay – Recorded as earned by employees and recovered as paid, generally within one year. Includes both vacation and banked holiday pay, if applicable.
Loss on reacquired debt – Recovered over either the remaining life of the original issue or, if refinanced, over the remaining life of the new issue. At December 31, 2024, the remaining amortization periods do not exceed 23 years for Alabama Power, 28 years for Georgia Power, 17 years for Mississippi Power, and three years for Southern Company Gas.
Software and cloud computing costs – Represents certain deferred operations and maintenance costs associated with software and cloud computing projects. For Alabama Power, costs are amortized ratably over the life of the related software, which ranges up to 10 years (through 2034). For Georgia Power, costs incurred through 2022 are being amortized over five years (through 2027), and the recovery period for costs incurred after 2022 will be determined in its next base rate case. For Mississippi Power, the recovery period will be determined in Mississippi Power's annual PEP filing process following the completion of the projects and is expected to begin no earlier than 2026. For Southern Company Gas, costs are being amortized ratably over the life of the related software, which ranges up to 10 years (through 2034).
Under and over recovered regulatory clause revenues –
Alabama Power: Balances are recorded monthly and expected to be recovered over periods of up to six years, with the majority expected to be recovered within one year. See "Alabama Power – Rate CNP PPA," " – Rate CNP Compliance," and " – Rate ECR" herein for additional information.
Georgia Power: Balances are recorded monthly and expected to be recovered or returned within two years. See "Georgia Power – Rate Plans" herein for additional information.
Mississippi Power: At December 31, 2024, $17 million is expected to be recovered through various rate recovery mechanisms over a period to be determined in future rate filings. See "Mississippi Power – Ad Valorem Tax Adjustment" herein for additional information.
Southern Company Gas: Balances are recorded and recovered or amortized over periods generally not exceeding five years. In addition to natural gas cost recovery mechanisms, the natural gas distribution utilities have various other cost recovery mechanisms for the recovery of costs, including those related to infrastructure replacement programs.
Regulatory clauses –
Alabama Power: Effective January 1, 2023, balance is being amortized through Rate RSE over a five-year period ending in 2027.
Southern Company Gas: Represents amounts related to Nicor Gas' volume balancing adjustment rider expected to be recovered over a period of less than two years.
Nuclear outage – Costs are deferred to a regulatory asset when incurred and amortized over a subsequent period of 18 months for Alabama Power and up to 24 months for Georgia Power. See Note 5 for additional information.
Fuel-hedging (realized and unrealized) losses and gains – Assets and liabilities are recorded over the life of the underlying hedged purchase contracts. Upon final settlement, actual costs incurred are recovered through the applicable traditional electric operating company's fuel cost recovery mechanism. Purchase contracts generally do not exceed three and a half years for Alabama Power, three years for Georgia Power, and four years for Mississippi Power. Immaterial amounts for fuel-hedging gains at December 31, 2024 and 2023 are included in other regulatory liabilities.
Qualifying repairs of natural gas distribution systems – Represents deferred costs of certain repairs at Atlanta Gas Light being amortized over 20 years.
Long-term debt fair value adjustment – Recovered over the remaining lives of the original debt issuances at acquisition, which range up to 14 years at December 31, 2024.
Plant Daniel Units 3 and 4 – Represents the difference between Mississippi Power's revenue requirement for Plant Daniel Units 3 and 4 under purchase accounting and operating lease accounting. At December 31, 2024, consists of the $16 million retail portion being amortized through 2039 over the remaining life of the related property and the $8 million wholesale portion being amortized over 10 years (through 2034).
Other regulatory assets – Comprised of numerous immaterial components with remaining amortization periods at December 31, 2024 generally not exceeding 19 years for Alabama Power, 10 years for Georgia Power, 10 years for Mississippi Power, and 15 years for Southern Company Gas.
Reliability reserves and storm/property damage reserves – Utilized as related expenses are incurred. See "Alabama Power – Rate NDR" and " – Reliability Reserve Accounting Order," "Georgia Power – Storm Damage Recovery," and "Mississippi Power – System Restoration Rider" and " – Reliability Reserve Accounting Order" herein and Note 1 under "Storm Damage and Reliability Reserves" for additional information.
Nuclear fuel disposal cost recovery – Represents award resulting from litigation related to nuclear fuel disposal costs. See Note 3 under "Nuclear Fuel Disposal Costs" for additional information.
Other regulatory liabilities – Comprised of numerous immaterial components with remaining amortization periods at December 31, 2024 generally not exceeding one year for Alabama Power, three years for Georgia Power, one year for Mississippi Power, and 20 years for Southern Company Gas.
The following table illustrates Southern Company Gas' authorized ratemaking amounts that are not recognized on its balance sheets. These amounts are primarily comprised of an allowed equity rate of return on assets associated with certain regulatory infrastructure programs. These amounts will be recognized as revenues in Southern Company Gas' financial statements in the periods they are billable to customers, the majority of which will be recovered by 2025.
December 31, 2024December 31, 2023
(in millions)
Atlanta Gas Light$11 $23 
Virginia Natural Gas10 10 
Chattanooga Gas7 7 
Nicor Gas— 3 
Total$28 $43 
Schedule of AOCI (loss) balances, net of tax effects
AOCI (loss) balances, net of tax effects, for Southern Company, Southern Power, and Southern Company Gas were as follows:
Qualifying
Hedges		Pension and Other
Postretirement
Benefit Plans
Accumulated Other
Comprehensive
Income (Loss)(*)
(in millions)
Southern Company
Balance at December 31, 2021$(162)$(76)$(237)
Current period change13 58 71 
Balance at December 31, 2022(149)(18)(167)
Current period change28 (38)(10)
Balance at December 31, 2023(121)(56)(177)
Current period change75 24 99 
Balance at December 31, 2024$(46)$(32)$(78)
Southern Power
Balance at December 31, 2021$1 $(29)$(27)
Current period change(10)20 10 
Balance at December 31, 2022(9)(9)(18)
Current period change8 (7)1 
Balance at December 31, 2023(1)(16)(17)
Current period change8 7 15 
Balance at December 31, 2024$7 $(9)$(2)
Southern Company Gas
Balance at December 31, 2021$(14)$38 $24 
Current period change(11)18 7 
Balance at December 31, 2022(25)56 31 
Current period change1 (16)(15)
Balance at December 31, 2023(24)40 16 
Current period change21 11 32 
Balance at December 31, 2024$(3)$51 $48 
(*)May not add due to rounding.