Southern Company releases first quarter financial information

Southern Company announced its performance over the first quarter of this year on Wednesday, with earnings amounting to $508 million so far. 


"We are encouraged by positive customer growth during the first quarter of 2015, along with strong industrial sales and an economic development pipeline that remains robust," Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO Thomas Fanning said. "In the meantime, we remain focused on our core business strategy of providing clean, safe, reliable and affordable electricity to customers throughout the Southeast."


In 2014 earnings made up $351 million for the same time period; this amount excludes a $235 million after-tax charge in the construction of the Kemper integrated gasification combined cycle project in Mississippi. They state that earnings received a boost from retail revenue. 


The Atlanta-based company serves parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and all of Georgia. According to the report, the company generates 46,000 megawatts of energy in electric and nuclear forms to over 4.5 million clients. They state that costs to customers are below the national average for energy. 


Due to a milder winter, retail sales based on kilowatt hours fell by 1.2 percent. More specifically, residential and commercial energy sales fell 4.2 percent and 1.1 percent. Industrial energy did make up for some of those losses with an increase of 1.9 percent in this first quarter.