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Southern Company Posts Higher Q2 Retail Electricity Sales on Data Center Boom

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Southern Company (SO) reported Q2 earnings Thursday, showing a 2.3% year-to-date growth in total weather-normal retail electricity sales, the highest rate in two decades.

The utility giant said that growth is underpinned by a rapid increase in energy demand from artificial intelligence and cloud computing infrastructure, with data center system load soaring to 1,219 megawatts in Q2 compared to 664 MW for the same quarter a year ago.

Southern Company secured about 6 gigawatts of additional large load contracts since its Q1 call, bringing its total contracted portfolio to 17 GW across 31 projects. The utility firm said another 8 GW remain in late or finalizing stages, part of a prospective pipeline exceeding 75 GW.

The company is constructing 10 GW of state-regulated generation resources to support demand growth, including natural gas, battery storage, solar, and transmission projects scheduled through 2030.

The generation resources include 1.2 GW to be completed in 2026, with a further 2.8 GW projected for 2030.

Price: $94.25, Change: $-1.80, Percent Change: -1.87%

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