Southern Company - Unit - Series A (2019)

Q1 2026 performance beats expectations; growth broad-based - Adjusted EPS: $1.32/share, +9¢ YoY and +12¢ vs company estimate. - Drivers: customer growth + higher usage (notably data centers), higher gas utility revenues, and energy-related revenues at unregulated businesses (incl. Southern Power). - Offsets: higher financing costs and milder weather vs 2025. - Q2 2026 adjusted EPS estimate: $1.00/share.

Retail electricity sales strong—data center demand is accelerating - Weather-normalized Q1 retail sales: +2.3% YoY, the highest first-quarter growth in recent history. - Residential customers: +46,000 net adds (positive net migration trend). - Commercial: +4.5% YoY (weather-adjusted), supported by data centers. - Data center usage: +42% YoY, driven by accelerating ramps at large load facilities. - Industrial: +1.5% YoY, including strength in multiple steel manufacturers (Alabama highlighted).

Large-load contracting is the key “growth engine” and is strengthening the regulatory/rate-stability strategy - Power demand in the territories now totals 23 GW contracted/late-stage load. - Last two months: +1.9 GW contracted (high-credit-quality hyperscalers) → fully contracted large-load agreements >11 GW across Alabama/Georgia/Mississippi electric subsidiaries. - Prospective late-stage pipeline: >75 GW total; another 12 GW in active late-stage discussions through mid-2030s (up from last quarter by +2 GW). - Near-term expectation: ~6 GW (about half) of that late-stage group expected to be finalized with executed contracts soon. - Contracts are structured to make customers cover full incremental cost via collateral, cancellation fees, and minimum bills, supporting rate stability for existing customers.