Atlanta-based Southern Co., the parent of Georgia Power, saw profits climb 11.5% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, the utility and energy conglomerate announced Thursday.
Southern earned $1.71 billion between July and the end of September, up from $1.54 billion during the same months last year. The company’s third quarter revenues also rose about 7.6% compared to 2024.
The company attributed the increases to higher revenues from its investor-owned utilities, like Georgia Power. Data center power usage jumped 17% across Southern’s electric service territory — which includes Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi — and Southern said it gained 12,000 new customers during the quarter, well above historic norms.
Southern’s year-to-date profits are also outpacing last year’s.
The company has earned $3.93 billion in the first nine months of 2025, compared to $3.87 billion over the same time in 2024.
Chris Womack, Southern’s president and CEO, said the company’s “performance comes as the momentum around electric demand growth opportunities and interest in our service territories continue to build.”
There’s been a proliferation of data centers across the Southeast in recent years, but no market for the server-packed warehouses has been hotter than metro Atlanta.
To meet their huge electricity demands, Georgia Power is seeking state regulators’ approval to add 10,000 megawatts of new power generation capacity in the span of roughly five years. The historic build out will cost billions — which could benefit Georgia Power and Southern’s shareholders, who earn a return on the utility’s investments.
But there’s concern about whether non-data center customers will end up paying more for electricity as a result.
Georgia Power’s residential customers have already seen their bills jump sharply since the start of 2023, the result of six rate increases approved by members of the Georgia Public Service Commission.
The PSC recently approved a three-year freeze on base rates, but it’s possible bills could go up again soon. Next year, Georgia Power will ask the PSC to allow it to collect its storm repair costs from customers, almost all of which were caused by Hurricane Helene. The company has called the September 2024 hurricane the most destructive storm in its history.
Georgia Power executives have said the storm’s costs — along with an outstanding balance for fuel used at the company’s power plants — could actually push some customers’ bills down next year. Their argument is that by spreading out costs to large electricity users like data centers, it will reduce the burden on other customers.
Critics of the utility also have questioned whether all the new power infrastructure is necessary. Georgia Power’s executives, meanwhile, have stood by their projections that a historic wave of electricity demand will continue into the 2030s.
Southern’s earnings show Georgia Power is already the utility giant’s most profitable division. Georgia Power earned $1.25 billion in the third quarter this year, up almost 19% from the same period a year ago.
The earnings report comes as voters are already casting ballots in elections for two of the five seats on the PSC, which regulates Georgia Power.
The race for the District 2 seat pits incumbent Republican Commissioner Tim Echols, who’s been on the PSC since 2011, against Democrat Alicia Johnson. In District 3, incumbent Republican Fitz Johnson is trying to fend off a challenge from Democrat Peter Hubbard.
Both seats are elected statewide, meaning Georgians across the state can vote in both races regardless of where they live.
Asked by investors about the looming election on an earnings call Thursday, Southern’s CEO Womack said the company has an “incredibly long history of working constructively with whomever is in those seats.”
Early voting in both races ends Friday on Halloween. Election Day is Nov. 4.
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