Southern Company issued its 2023 Sustainability Summary report.
"Southern Company’s primary responsibility is to provide our customers with clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy. Balancing these priorities to help ensure the long-term sustainability of our businesses for the benefit of customers and communities is complex," said Chris Womack, chairman of the board, president and CEO of Southern Company. "The energy industry is currently facing simultaneous opportunities and challenges that compound these complexities: rapidly growing demand, potentially the greatest infrastructure investment cycle in a generation, a desire to decarbonize, a prolonged inflationary environment pressuring customer rates and an evolving regulatory landscape. We believe our people, business strategies, corporate culture and stakeholder engagement efforts position us to meet these opportunities and challenges in a sustainable manner.”
Southern Company's 2023 Sustainability Summary highlights the company's five sustainability pillars:
Serve Our Customers
Advance Clean Energy
Lead Through Innovation
Invest in Our People
Elevate Our Communities
The summary also highlights Southern Company’s approach to corporate governance and policy engagement and serves as a short-form report for stakeholders who want to learn more about Southern Company's sustainability efforts. The annual Sustainability Summary is a companion to the robust sustainability section of the company's website and the full suite of sustainability-related documents available on the company's Data, Downloads and Reports page.
Key highlights from the 2023 Sustainability Summary include:
Continued shift toward zero- and lower-carbon sources of electric generating capacity such as renewables, nuclear and natural gas, with a 49% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions relative to 2007 levels.
Ongoing focus on the affordability of energy costs for customers, maintaining expense discipline across businesses, implementing efficiency measures and keeping customers at the center of everything we do.
Significant investment in the transmission and distribution systems of Southern Company subsidiaries, including a wide range of projects designed to enhance resilience and facilitate the addition of zero- and lower-carbon resources.
Continued commitment to working closely with local and state officials, organizations and customers.
Investing heavily in workforce development initiatives and providing enhanced training, leadership and mobility opportunities for employees as Southern Company builds an energy workforce for the future.
