As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Greg MacLeod, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you, Christine. Good afternoon. Welcome to Southern Company's first quarter 2026 earnings call. Joining me today are Chris Womack, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of The Southern Company, and David P. Poroch, Chief Financial Officer. Let me remind you that we will make forward-looking statements today in addition to providing historical information. Various important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements, including those discussed in our Form 10-K, Form 10-Q, and subsequent securities filings. In addition, we will present non-GAAP financial information on this call. Reconciliations to the applicable GAAP measure are included in the financial information we released this morning as well as the slides for this conference call, which are both available on our investor relations website at investor.southerncompany.com. At this time, I'll turn the call over to Chris.
Thank you, Greg. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today. As you can see from the materials that we released this morning, we reported adjusted earnings results for the first quarter above our estimate with year-over-year growth reflected across all our major businesses. That performance reflects premium execution and the strength of our strategy to serve the phenomenal growth we're seeing across the Southeast with reliable and affordable energy while delivering durable long-term value for shareholders. We continue to see extraordinary growth and economic development opportunities as our service territories attract investment, people, and jobs at a pace few regions can match. As we previously highlighted, a substantial portion of this growth is driven by projected demand from large load customers. The demand for power across our electric service territories has culminated in 23 gigawatts of contracted or latent stage load.
In just the last 2 months, we assigned contracts for another 1.9 gigawatts of customer load with high credit quality hyperscalers, bringing our fully contracted large load agreements to more than 11 gigawatts across our electric subsidiaries. These bilateral negotiated agreements are structured so that customers driving incremental demand cover the full share of the cost to serve them, helping to assure this growth benefits all customers. We continue to execute on our plans to serve growth, and our straightforward approach protects existing customers. We invest in line with demand to serve growth that enables us to deliver regular, predictable, and sustainable results while providing meaningful benefits to the customers and communities we are privileged to serve. Southern Company continues to be uniquely positioned to do this because of our scale, our experience, and our expertise, all supported by constructive, long-standing regulatory frameworks.
At The Southern Company, we are capitalizing on transformative growth opportunities while delivering energy reliability and rate stability as energy demands growth with base rates held stable in Alabama and Georgia until at least 2029, along with the recent filing to lower rates in Georgia associated with the recovery of fuel and storm costs, we're demonstrating the value of this approach. Rate stability for our customers is a purposeful objective supported by our constructive, orderly planning and procurement processes, cost management, and thoughtful financing. This same built-for-purpose approach also creates the potential for additional capital investment to serve incremental growth opportunities under established regulatory processes. We have routinely demonstrated, as growth opportunities present themselves, that The Southern Company has the ability to convert these opportunities into value through enhanced operations and grid-improving infrastructure investments for the benefit of customers and investors alike.
The construction of many of these investments is well underway. In the last 2 months, Georgia Power achieved commercial operations for 2 battery energy storage systems, providing nearly 200 megawatts of capacity, representing an important step forward in advancing reliable, sustainable energy solutions across the state. These projects are the first of several resources included within our 10-gigawatt portfolio of approved new generation resources that are in development to power the extraordinary projected growth in our region, including multiple battery systems and natural gas combustion turbines that are projected to be online later in 2026 and 2027. Before I turn the call over to David for our financial update, I'd like to highlight the recently announced historic $26.5 billion in loan agreements with the Department of Energy that will benefit customers across Alabama and Georgia for decades.
As we expect these loans to translate into meaningful long-term customer savings while reducing pressure on our capital market needs. Over the approximately 30-year term of the DOE loans, this lower cost financing is projected to generate cumulative savings of $7 billion for customers. David, I'll now turn the call over to you for a financial update.
Thanks, Chris, and good afternoon, everyone. For the first quarter of 2026, our adjusted EPS was $1.32 per share, $0.09 higher than the first quarter of 2025, and $0.12 above our estimate. The primary drivers of our performance for the quarter compared to last year were meaningful customer growth and increased usage, including from data centers at our state-regulated electric utilities. Additionally, increased revenues in our gas utilities and higher energy-related revenues in our unregulated businesses, including Southern Power, were positive drivers in the first quarter. This was partially offset by higher financing costs and milder weather year-over-year compared to the first quarter of 2025. A complete reconciliation of year-over-year earnings is included in the materials we released this morning. Our adjusted EPS estimate for the second quarter is $1.00 per share.
Turning now to retail electricity sales, first quarter weather normal retail electricity sales to all classes were 2.3% higher than the first quarter of 2025. This represents the highest total retail sales growth that we've seen in the first quarter in recent history. In fact, sales to all 3 customer classes were up year-over-year, including residential, where we saw 46,000 new customers added to our system as positive trends and net migration continue. The commercial class grew 4.5% in the first quarter when adjusted for weather, bolstered by ongoing growth in data centers. Data center usage saw material expansion in the quarter, up 42% year-over-year, primarily due to accelerating usage ramps at large load facilities.
Our industrial sales grew 1.5%, with particular strength in several segments, including robust activity at multiple steel manufacturers in Alabama. More broadly, the Southeast continues to stand out as one of the most attractive economic regions in the country, driven by a diverse mix of advanced manufacturing, technology, and other energy-intensive industries. In the first quarter alone, there were economic development announcements for over $7 billion of capital investment and the creation of nearly 4,000 permanent jobs in our region, including a global biopharmaceutical manufacturing project north of Atlanta, bringing $2 billion of investment and over 300 jobs to Georgia. The sustained high-quality growth reinforces why demand in this region of the country remains strong and visible, underscoring the region's tremendous opportunity for future growth.
Outside the Southeast, we continue to see momentum in our gas utilities, including a recently announced Hyundai investment in Illinois that's expected to bring 2,500 jobs and $500 million of investment to the Nicor Gas service territory. As we look ahead, the interest from large load customers in our electric service territories, which includes data centers and large manufacturers, remains strong, with a prospective pipeline of well over 75 gigawatts, and we continue to make incredible progress advancing projects through stages in our large load process to finality with executed contracts. As Chris mentioned, over the past 2 months, Georgia Power signed 2 projects representing 1.9 gigawatts, pushing the cumulative amount of contracted large loads to over 11 gigawatts across Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi.
These bilaterally negotiated contracts with pricing and terms designed to both protect and benefit existing customers also support our long-term financial outlook. We continue to see incredible momentum and tangible interest for power from large load customers and are in active late-stage discussions for another 12 gigawatts of contracted load through the mid-2030s, an increase of 2 gigawatts from what we shared last quarter. Importantly, roughly 6 gigawatts or half of these late-stage gigawatts are expected to be finalized with executed contracts in the near term. In a little over 2 months, we've seen projects representing 12 gigawatts advance to the next stage in our large load process.
The demonstrated progress we are making in attracting and signing new agreements with large load customers is exciting and continues to drive projected growth in our risk-adjusted load forecasts, which ultimately helps inform future generation needs and generation requests for proposals or RFPs across our service territory. For example, Georgia Power recently initiated the regulatory process for an all source RFP to procure 2 to 6 gigawatts of new dispatchable generation resources, including from thermal generation, battery energy storage, and renewables that are projected to be in service in 2032 and 2033. Generation procurement through RFPs deliver substantial value to customers and is a testament to the transparent and orderly processes in our vertically integrated state-regulated markets with long-range integrated resource planning.
To the extent that company-owned resources are selected through Alabama Power and Georgia Power's active RFP processes and ultimately authorized by their respective PSC, these generation investments would represent substantial incremental investment above our current base capital plan. Turning to Southern Power, we are moving forward to add 400 megawatts of additional capacity upgrades through natural gas turbine upgrades in multiple existing facilities in Alabama and Georgia, with commercial operation projected between 2029 and 2031. This incremental investment is projected to add approximately $700 million to our capital plan over the next several years. We continue to evaluate other growth investment opportunities at Southern Power, including an additional 300 megawatts of natural gas uprates, as well as other new generation opportunities in both the Southeast and other markets to meet future demand.
Before I turn the call back over to Chris, I'd like to provide an update on our financing activities through the first quarter. We continue to proactively address equity needs that support our strong credit quality and path towards 17% FFO to debt by 2029. Over the last quarter, we sourced an incremental $500 million of equity through our at-the-market or ATM program with forward contracts that settle at our discretion by 2028. Combined with the significant amount of equity previously sourced and including the incremental $700 million of Southern Power projected capital expenditures I mentioned earlier, we project a remaining need for equity or equity equivalents of approximately $1.8 billion through 2030 in support of our capital plan and long-term credit objectives.
We are well-positioned to continue financing our remaining equity needs in a credit-supportive and shareholder-focused fashion. I'll now turn the call back over to Chris.
Thank you, David. Last week, The Southern Company Board of Directors approved an increase of $0.08 per share in our annual common dividend, raising the annualized rate to $3.04 per share. This action marks our 25th consecutive annual increase, this will now be 79 consecutive years dating back to 1948. The Southern Company has paid a dividend that is equal to or greater than the previous year. Increasing dividend 25 years in a row represents a historic milestone for the company and underscores our focus on premium risk-adjusted total shareholder return and our goal of delivering regular, predictable, and sustainable value for our shareholders. We are incredibly proud of our strong dividend track record, which continues to be an integral part of The Southern Company's long-term value proposition. As we conclude our discussion today, our 1st quarter results reinforce a simple point.
Our company is delivering. We're off to a strong start in 2026. That momentum gives us confidence as we continue executing on our long-term goals. We're capturing growth, protecting customers, and creating long-term value. We're doing it in a disciplined, predictable way. With that foundation, we have a bright future ahead. Thank you for joining us this afternoon and for your continued interest in Southern Company. Operator, we are now ready to take questions.
Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment please while we poll for questions. Thank you. Our first question comes from the line of Shar Pourreza with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question.
Hey, Shar.
Hey, guys. Hey, Chris. How you doing?
All right, not too bad.
Hope you're doing well.
Good. Good. Good for you.
Chris, just on new nuclear, there seems to be sort of a consortium that's formed with utilities and hyperscalers, maybe with some backstop by U.S. government around sort of new AP1000s. It seems like there could be some views that hyperscalers would be willing to take on some of the cost inflation risk above budgeted amounts. One of your peers kind of highlighted that they wouldn't be surprised if the first deal was announced this year. Can you maybe comment on your views? Is Southern interested? Are you in the consortium? Just, I guess, some thoughts on new nuclear in light of the learning curves of unit 3 versus unit 4. Thanks.
Yeah, sure. I mean, a very, very good question. Let me at the outset say, I am very excited to see all the actions that the Trump administration has taken to support the build and construction of new nuclear. I mean, I've said it, you heard me say it many times with the growth that we see in this country. I think it's gonna be important that we have make available new nuclear in this country to help and support and meet this demand. I mean, the Trump administration, I think, has taken some wonderful steps on the regulatory front. All the conversations that DOE is leading and having today about long lead times for supply chains, all of these issues are matters that we clearly have to address and get our arms around.
All of these things can help mitigate risk associated with new construction. As you know, I mean, I said before, Southern Company is not at a place to make a commitment about building a new unit. We're gonna kinda continue to share the experiences that we gain from Vogtle units 3 and 4, sharing that here in this country and other places, with other industries and other companies that are interested in moving forward. I'm very thrilled and very excited about the conversations and the commitments and the actions that are being taken, particularly around doing more around AP1000s. With a group of companies, I'm glad to see this action and work being taken. Once again, be clear, we're not at a place for Southern Company in terms of making that kind of decision.
It's real exciting and real positive to see the work that's being led by this administration, to support the development of new nuclear construction.
Got it. Perfect. Thank you for that. Then just on Southern Power, obviously there are a lot of opportunities there with existing tolling agreements that are gonna start to roll off. I guess, have those renegotiation conversations started? More importantly, are there any sort of conversations being had with potential hyperscalers with those assets? There seems to be more and more interest on the gas side. I'm just kinda curious there how you're thinking about that process?
Sure. I guess I'd say the answer is yes and yes. I mean, we're in the midst of some recontracting opportunities, and we've talked about kinda where we are and what we see into the 2030s. Yeah, that work is underway. At the same time, with all the activity in the marketplace all across this country, we see there could be opportunities for Southern Power. Yes, they are having those conversations to see what's possible and what's doable. They bring, I think, good construction support, and good work that they have experienced all across this company with credit-worthy counterparties. So, yeah, I mean, there are conversations that they're having all across the sector to see what opportunities kind of fit our profile. But yeah, I mean, let me, let me end where I started.
To your question, the answer are yes and yes. We're doing both.
Perfect. I would assume this is all upside to your 7%-8%. You're not embedding any assumption around this.
Yeah, I mean, once again, I mean, as we think about upside, Shar, we think about strength and durability. I mean, how do we kinda add length to our growth trajectory that we've laid out? Things like Southern Power and additional large load projects that we're working on, all those activities could support some additional capital investments, but it brings greater durability to our plan. That's kinda how we see all these upside opportunities.
Very helpful. Thank you, Chris. See you soon.
Thanks, Shar.
Appreciate it.
Good to talk to you, man. Hope to see you soon.
Definitely.
All right.
Our next question comes from the line of Nick Campanella with Barclays. Please proceed with your question.
Nick, how you doing, man?
Hey, good afternoon. How are you? Good, good to hear from you.
Thank you.
I guess you kinda answered it, like, what you've announced here, the incremental, you know, you see strengthening, lengthening the durability of the 7% to 8% CAGR. I guess just my question is just more on the load side and how you think that's affecting the reg strategy. You know, I guess when I take a step back, you committed to these stay-outs, you know, late last year, and since then, you've kind of been making notable progress both on load visibility and usage ramps. Just how is that kinda creating or changing your philosophy around your regulatory strategy when you would actually go in and file again after these next stay-outs? Are you kind of, you know, I guess, ahead of plan on the load, and can that crystallize a further stay-out for customers? Thanks.
Yeah, Nick, let me start, and I'll see what David wants to add. I think the focus for us is more about rate stability. As we have structured these contracts with large loads to make sure they pay their full share, and also making sure from collateral to making sure that from cancellation fees to minimum bills, the terms that we look in the contract, all of that gives us protection, but also it supports our ability to make sure that we're protecting existing customers. That gives us the opportunity for this kinda rate stability and freezes in Georgia through 2028 and Alabama through 2029.
As we do that work, all of that kind of supports, yeah, the regulatory strategy, but more importantly, it supports our commitment to rate stability, to our customers and making sure that all of our customers benefit from this growth that we're experiencing. David, anything you wanna add to that?
Chris, Nick, thanks. Great question. You know, when we took this opportunity, we saw the road shaping up where these contracts were coming to fruition. The conversations we were having with these large load opportunities were really, the momentum was building, and we saw the opportunity to provide long-term stability for our customers, and it has really paid off quite well. These ramps are going exactly as we had thought. The opportunities that we came into with the DOE are further enhancing affordability and stability. Everything's just working out perfectly well with this opportunity and enhancing the benefits for customers.
Nick, did that get your question?
Yeah. No, I, I appreciate it. Would you say just when you set the, you know, when you made that commitment, are you in line with the plan on your load visibility or ahead of the plan? How would you characterize that, I guess?
We're in line.
Yeah. You know, we're focused getting to the top of the range and delivering what we say we're gonna deliver. I mean, that's one thing you can count on us to do. Yeah, we're delivering. As we said in the opening remarks, we're delivering on what we said we were gonna do. As we look at this great start to the start of the year, we're excited about where we are here in 2026. As we look long term, we feel very confident about the plan that we've laid out.
Okay. Then just my only follow-up was just as we think about wrapping in additional capital, I know you've given that sensitivity for incremental equity, but just thoughts on portfolio rotation at this time.
Yeah. You know, Nick, it's something that we've talked about regularly. We're always looking around. We are blessed to have the cards that we've been dealt, and we love the portfolio. If there's, you know, an opportunity out there where there's a better buyer, I mean, a better owner of something, we're open to that. If there's an opportunity for us to get in and buy something, we're open to that as well. It's gotta be in the right circumstances and we're always looking.
Thanks.
Our next question comes from the line of Julien Dumoulin-Smith with Jefferies. Please proceed with your question.
Hey, Julien.
Mm.
What's happening?
Hey, hey. Chris, team, guys, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
What's going on?
Let me pick it up where my pal Nick just left it off here. You've got a $850 million of cumulative bill credits you guys have been talking about here. Is there a chance that that number actually gets revised higher here as you just see this contracted large load number head higher, right? I mean, again, I that was a snapshot as of a point in time. I imagine you could actually eventually be in a better position here on that point. I think it's partially what Nick was getting after.
Yeah, Julien, you know we don't get to have our regulators, first of all. Clearly, as we can continue to deliver these contracts in terms of how they're structured and how they provide additional benefits to existing customers and our focus on putting downward pressure on rates and bills for existing customers, we're always looking for those kind of opportunities. This deep focus that we have on rate stability and how we're using growth to support rate stability, clearly, as you laid out, that is a focus of ours. As we talk about and we've signaled that, Georgia Power is in the middle of storm recovery proceedings along with fuel recovery processes and how those two proceedings can provide benefits and lower bills for customers.
That's kind of a major focus of ours as we think about rate stability, as we do the work of signing these large load contracts, as we focus on growth, as we manage this company, doing all we can to maintain rate stability, but find opportunities to put downward pressure on rates for our customers. That is a keen principle focus of ours.
Awesome. Thank you so much. Let me follow this up real quickly here 'cause obviously you're showing continued quarter-over-quarter success at the Southern corporate level on finalizing of contracts, right? As you show in that funnel chart, right? In your slide deck. If I look at the 4Q 2025 Georgia Power large load economic development report, it shows some degree of softening in contracted commitments here. Look, I just one needle. Is there something about Georgia versus your other states, a la maybe Alabama, where there's other states accelerating to offset Georgia? Again, there's a timing element here. Again, there's a lot of different numbers floating around, but I just wanna make sure I'm understanding the core message here.
I think it's more about timing, but also I think it's the other message that we've been communicating, that we're seeing this activity migrate to the West as we continue to see increasing activity in Alabama. Yeah, I mean, there's some turn in Georgia, but I would say the fire is still very hot in Georgia, but we're also witnessing greater activity in Alabama and Mississippi as well. I think you can also look at that kind of pipeline number, still 75 gigawatts, that I think reflects kind of all the activity that we see. The turn is more speculative, but I think you also continue to see kind of more hyperscale activity across the territory.
Yeah, Julien, one thing to think about as well is recall the rules under which we're negotiating these contracts in Georgia and the need for these potential customers to demonstrate their commitment by posting collateral. That's really shaking a lot of the potentials out of there that are more speculative in nature and leaving Georgia Power to really work with a high quality portfolio of potential customers in which we're choosing to contract. I think what you're seeing really is a refinement of that and not a degradation at all. Actually, I'd maybe characterize it as a strengthening of that portfolio, if anything.
A strengthening in Georgia nonetheless.
Very strong in Georgia.
Strengthening consistent.
Yes. Yes.
100%.
Yep.
Got it. Awesome. All right. I'll leave it there, guys. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Thank you.
Our next question comes from the line of Carly Davenport with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed with your question.
Hey, Carly.
Hey. Hey, good afternoon. Thanks so much for taking my questions. Maybe just one follow-up on the upright opportunities at Southern Power on the gas fleet. I know you announced some of those today, and then it seems like there's another 300 megawatts on the table. Any sense you could give us on kind of timing in evaluating that opportunity? And is that sort of the extent of the upright opportunity you see on the gas fleet at Southern Power?
From an upright perspective, that really covers the whole fleet, if we work through the rest of those opportunities. In terms of timing, you know, we're working through that. You know, that could be over probably the course of the next year or so. Yeah, we set out a plan to explore opportunities to really operate each one of the existing generation facilities within Southern Power.
Yeah, Carly, that construction is scheduled to begin this year in 2026. This is kind of very immediate work that will be done.
Got it. Okay, great. Thank you for that. Maybe just to touch base on Georgia, obviously 2 seats up on the PSC for election this year. Just curious if you could kind of provide your latest thoughts just on the setup in terms of the focus areas of the candidates you've heard thus far and just any views on kind of latest temperature in Georgia around affordability and development.
As you know, I mean, there are primary elections on May 19th. If there are runoffs, they will be June 16th. There's a lot of conversation. Everybody's on the campaign trail, a lot of conversation about data centers and large load customers and things like rate stability. I mean, all those issues are being debated on the campaign trail, and we'll see how that plays out in terms of the results of the election. I mean, one of the things that I'd just love to add in that regard, I mean, Southern Company's been around for over 100 years, and we've seen a lot of twists and turns politically.
With the experience that we've had and the ability to navigate whichever way the politics go from one side or the other, we've, I think, have a tremendous history of being able to work with both parties or whoever's in office. We feel comfortable and confident that because of the work we do across our communities and our employees live and work there, the commitments we have to the state, we're very confident about our abilities to continue to have a constructive regulatory environment no matter how these elections turn out.
Very clear. Thank you so much for the time.
Thanks, Carly.
Our next question comes from the line of Stephen D'Ambrosio with RBC. Please proceed with your question.
Hey, Steve.
Hey, Chris. Thanks very much for taking my question. Just had a quick one. You know, there's It seems like there's a pretty significant acceleration in, like, the pace of how you're moving these large loads into late stage and finalizing. You know, just There's a lot of numbers of gigawatts that are thrown around. You added 2, you expanded finalizing in late stage to 12. Just how does that interplay with the 2-6 gigawatts or, like, the sizing of the RFP that you're currently working on?
Just, like, to the extent we see, I just wanna make sure I level set to understand, like, what adding 2 gigawatts to the contracted pipeline means or how much of the new RFP that eats up and then what, you know, any incremental signings mean for subsequent RFPs or if that makes sense.
Yeah. Well, yeah, no, it does. It speaks to kind of updates in the load forecast in terms of a result of the work that we're seeing and the demands that we're seeing from large loads. But also, I don't want to take for granted the other large manufacturing opportunities that we see across the state. I mean, as we talked about, I mean, there's a lot of investment. There are a lot of people. There are a lot of jobs. There's a lot of capital and a lot of interest in our states. What you see in that RFP is a reflection of that increase in load forecast.
The other thing I'd say to you, we don't take it for granted, we try to communicate this very carefully, you know, also just very proud of the fact, as you look at our structure, this vertically integrated structure that we have in terms of the orderly processes and the certainty that we can have with these bilateral negotiations in terms of understanding what these customers need and our ability to respond and to align with their needs is really, paying off, delivering. That's what you see through this RFP, that's what you also see in this pipeline and this funnel that we speak to in terms of we highlight the work that we're doing, the activity that we're doing. We're seeing, I guess a new phrase we're using called repeat buyers.
They find success and say, "Okay, you can deliver. Let's come back and get a little bit more." It gives us the reason to be very bullish about the robust activity and demand that we see in our territory.
Okay. That's, that's really helpful. Just, you know, a couple of the other questions were about, you know, accelerating the loads and what it means for affordability. Can you just talk a little bit about the fact that, you know, it seems like you guys are pricing these so that minimum bills cover the incremental cost to serve? To the extent you have, you know, ramp rates exceeding or you know, exceeding minimum bills and coming close to what is actually projected by the hyperscalers, what that means for customer rates and what the timeline would be to discuss that with regulators.
Yeah. Let me start, then David, I'll kick it to you. I know there's been language out there about incremental. I mean, I think for us, you gotta think more about full in terms of making sure they cover their full share. As a result of doing that provides existing benefits to existing customers. That allows us to even have consideration about things like maintaining rate stability and freezes and those kind of things, and putting downward pressure on existing customers' rates. By negotiating with these customers to make sure they're covering their full cost, growth provides an opportunity provide benefits to existing customers. I mean, growth is a wonderful value and benefit and contributor to what we're being able to do and what we're being able to deliver to all of our customers, in particular to our existing customers.
Yeah. Stephen D'Ambrosio, you may also wanna think about, I think a differentiating factor in our contracts is the minimum bill that is established within the contract. It is designed to recover all of the cost introduced into the system, like Christopher C. Womack said. We're not, if you will, held captive to a variable pricing methodology in order to recover those costs. It's all embedded within the minimum bill. You could think about it as basically writing a call option to the network. We recover our costs through that minimum bill, not through the variable pricing and making sure that the customer achieves their ramp rates.
It's really a very thoughtful design, I think a differentiating factor around the country, and it's really helping to protect our customers and provide the stability and downward pressure on rates going forward.
Okay. That's great. Thanks very much for the time. Appreciate it.
Thank you very much.
Our next question comes from the line of Nicholas Amicucci with Evercore ISI. Please proceed with your question.
Hey, Nick.
Hey, great. Thank thanks everybody. Yeah, perfect timing there. Actually, Dave, I wanted to kind of hone in on that a little bit. Just the I guess the attractiveness slash the ability of you guys to kind of leverage, you know, the notion of virtual power plants and just kind of leveraging all of your asset base, just being that you guys are fully integrated and the attractiveness of that to kind of just expediting this the time to power type of mechanism.
What's your question?
Yeah, if you could just kind of comment on that and just kind of frame that. Is that part of the appetite, part of the attraction for you guys just to be able to expedite that and expedite the process of time to power through that, you know, those types of mechanisms?
I think, Nick, I mean, great observation. And you used the term, you know, vertically integrated, and I think that really does help us greatly in terms of marketing these contracts and having these conversations. The counterparty knows exactly where all of their generation's gonna come from, where their transmission infrastructure is gonna come from, where the distribution infrastructure is necessary to come from. So we've been very transparent with our customers through these conversations to make sure that they understand the cost makeup, understand how it's gonna happen, when it's gonna happen, and we've been able to deliver on that.
You know, you kinda answered maybe your own question. I point you back to the vertically integrated model under which we work and the transparent structured regulatory processes in which we go through to establish the approval for the capital that we're able to deploy and the resources that we bring to serve these contracts.
Great. No, that's helpful. Then if we kinda think about too just kind of the incremental growth, you know, kinda going forward and just the availability of, you know, just within the supply chain and turbine availability. Obviously you guys had, you know, kind of somewhat front run, you know, these higher prices. As we think about it seems like you guys are able to ring-fence a lot of the costs. Just like contemplating, you know, the generation source and generation asset kind of going forward, just how you guys are thinking about cost mitigating the, you know, just the pricing increases that we've seen on what if it's natural gas or, you know, or something else? Just kind of how we can kind of get that into a rate base and feel comfortable about it.
Let me say, we talked earlier about size and scale, that is one of the benefits that we bring to this period of time in terms of having these relationships, having worked with OEMs, having worked with turbine suppliers for years. We're in line, we have our positions, we're having ongoing conversations with suppliers to make sure they understand what our needs are, we understand where they are, making sure that this partnership is being valuable for both parties in terms of not only delivery of units, but also in terms of pricing. I think in this marketplace, I do think scale matters, relationship matters. Having history and experience also brings value, I think we're bringing all of those characteristics to bear as we operate and function in this incredible transformative period.
Perfect. Thanks, guys.
Great.
Thanks, Nick.
Our next question comes from the line of Andrew Weisel with Scotiabank. Please proceed with your question.
Andrew.
Hey, everybody. Good afternoon. My first question is about the Georgia RFP. Apologies if I missed it, but what would be the timing of when the process is completed? Relative to that, when you'd have visibility into the company-owned resources, therefore, when we might see the CapEx update? I think you said it could be substantial incremental investment. Then related, I think you said the in-service dates would be for 2032, 2033. Could there be appetite for something sooner in the case that demand might materialize earlier, or is the process specific to that timing?
I hate to disappoint you're going to hold your breath until the end of the year before we get through that process. It's kind of a year-long process and of course, you know, we're not gonna get ahead of our regulators and the overall process. That's the first question. What the second question was-
Could there be in-service dates sooner than 2032, 2033? Like, in other words, I know a lot of the, you know, you're pointing to new gas with those dates. I know it's all resource.
Not tied to this RFP.
Yeah, not for this one.
Not for this one.
Yeah. We'll go through the selection process through the rest of this year, then that will lead to a certification process that will take us pretty much through 2027. Then, you know, to the extent that we work through that process and any of our proposals are selected, that would lead toward, you know, initiating spend probably in 2028, with those deliveries in 32, 33. You know, I think we've talked about this in the past, it's probably a decent rule of thumb for maybe a gig of company-owned resources might be two plus-ish of incremental CapEx in the latter part of the planning horizon and into the next decade.
Yeah. As you know, we're building some 10 gigawatts now that gets us through the end of this decade. Then the RFP that was certified the end of last year, that kind of gets us to, into the early parts of the 2030s. Once again, that speaks to kind of the very orderly processes and planning processes that we have across our company.
Very helpful. Okay, just to clarify on the equity outlook. First, the $26.5 billion of DOE loan guarantees. Am I right that that would reduce traditional debt dollar for dollar without impacting the equity? Is that the right way to think about it? It looks like an incremental $300 million of equity relates to $700 million from the Southern Power gas upgrades. What would be the timing of that? I think the upgrades are for 2029-2031, should I think of the equity being in the later years of the plan? Just to clarify, if you do move forward with the additional 300 MW, would that require additional equity, or is that sort of included? Sorry, I guess that was sort of a three for one.
Yeah, that's a multi-parter. First, yeah, the DOE loans, that definitely helps our capital markets needs. Pretty much takes care of us for at least, you know, the foreseeable future. Great pricing, helps with liquidity, and at Georgia and Alabama recall. Now you talked about Southern Power uprates, yes, we're continuing along with that sort of 40% equity proportion as we grow those capital opportunities. That is incremental. That's what we talked about now. You know, keeping us in line with that 17% FFO to debt, as we explore those other opportunities beyond the $700 million we talked about today, would likely carry about a 40% ongoing equity proportion.
We'll, you know, we'll explore whatever opportunities are available to us at the, at the time, and take advantage of market circumstances. I think it's a good rule of thumb to continue to expect about 40% of incremental capital to be funded through equity.
Okay. Very, very helpful. Thank you. Appreciate it.
Our next question comes from the line of Richard Sunderland with Truist. Please proceed with your question.
Hey, Richard.
Hey, good afternoon. Thanks for the time. Just one for me. You know, recognizing the progress on the Southern Power uprates and the 300 MW to go, just curious about sort of the overall development arc here, given that progress on the uprates. Is it, is it sort of tracking the expectations you laid out on the forecast update, and how are you thinking about the timing for more visibility into, say, brownfield/greenfield development there? Thank you.
I think it's been, it's tracking as we expected. The interest is very strong on both the recontracting opportunities that we have and negotiation with existing customers. Clearly from a brownfield standpoint, we're in early stage considerations of those possibilities. I think probably later in the year, we'll be in a better position to give you more update on where all that stands. As we said before earlier, we're executing on what we've highlighted, we're moving through the plan, I think, very orderly and delivering as we have outlined. We'll keep you posted as we see results and as projects begin to bear fruition.
Perfect. That's all for me. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks, Richard.
Our next question comes from the line of David Arcaro with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed with your question.
What's up, David?
Hey, thank you so much. Thanks for taking the questions. Wondering if you could speak to the supply chain and just where you stand currently in terms of access to some of the, some of the tight areas like turbines and labor, what you're seeing there?
You know, in this current market, it's not anything you can take for granted. I would tell you though, once again, I speak to the size and scale of our company and the relationships that we have with these suppliers. The headline would be we're very well positioned. Okay. Still, that is not something we can sleep on. We have to continue to work it, whether it's turbines, whether it's transformers, whether it's hot wire, cable, name it. That is something our supply chain organization continues to be very aggressive in terms of focused on. We do have, as we look at RFPs, we do have the turbines identified to support those RFPs. Also, you mentioned labor. You know, we've had a long history of working with labor.
We have, I think, an incredible relationship, whether it's building trades, other organizations, labor organizations. We continue to update them in terms of what our needs are, our construction schedules, and kind of the skills that will be needed. Those relationships, I think, will bear fruits from us. 'Cause you got to expect there's gonna be some tightness in the labor market. I think those relationships would be very important. I mean, I go back to doing the Vogtle construction. At peak periods, we had some 10,000 laborers on the site. All that we went through through that project, I think, further enhanced the relationship that we have with labor. We continue to be involved with them.
We continue to have conversations about what's coming down the road and what our needs will be. I think those relationships will pay off very well for us in a very constrained environment. That would be my answer there. It's about coordination, but it's also about a lot of our experience in terms of what we've done and what work we've done, things we've built. I feel good about where we are, but we got to keep getting better there. Got to keep working it.
Got it. Yeah, appreciate that. Very helpful. I just wanted to maybe double-check. When would new generation be needed, I guess, as you sign more large load contracts? Like, how do we think about, you know, the next round of an all source RFP? Is there a certain level of gigawatts that you'd expect to trigger that for another round here, or more just a matter of time?
I think I mentioned earlier on the call, I mean, we're in the midst now of building 10 gigawatts that will support activities and demands through the end of the decade. The RFP that was certified in Georgia, end of last year, would take us through the early stages of the 2030s. This RFP looks more at 2032, 2033 timeframe, somewhere between another 2 gigawatts, 6 gigawatts. I mean, we're lining up pretty well in terms of matching up with the needs that we're seeing across the economy and across the market. Alabama is also active from an RFP standpoint. Feel pretty good about how we're matching up with the demand and load forecast to meet those needs between now and the mid-2030s.
Okay, great. Thank you. Appreciate it.
Welcome.
Our next question comes through line to Paul Fremont with Ladenburg Thalmann. Please proceed with your question.
What's up, Paul?
Hey, thank you very much. A really strong result for the quarter. I just wanted to pursue a little bit Southern Power. Can you give us a sense of how much of that capacity is currently contracted today?
We've said numbers up in the mid-90s in terms of what's contracted. We know many of those contracts go through in the mid-30s, but we signaled before. There may be some early review of some of those contracts and early negotiations in terms of potential recontracting. There will be the opportunity to actually have new conversations about some of that capacity being made available. Puts us in a pretty strong position as we see pricing opportunities. Kind of once again, I think Southern Power is in a real strong position recognizing the demand that's currently in the marketplace and what they're seeing around pricing.
When I look at the 400 megawatts, should I assume that you've already contracted for that capacity or would or is it likely that when it's built, you will contract for it?
You mean the 400 megawatts that we announced the uprate.
Yes, the uprate.
today, right?
The 400 MW of uprate.
Yeah, those are ongoing conversations, you know, fairly late stage. We'll be wrapping those up in the relatively near future, but those conversations are well in hand.
Likely by the time it's built, it'll be contracted.
That is clearly our expectation. I mean, it.
Sorry. Hello?
Paul, are you still there?
Yes. Yes.
Yeah. Finish up your question. You would assume what?
I would assume then that part of the decision on the 300 MW would basically be assessed based on your ability to potentially contract that additional amount as well.
Yeah. You know, think about it consistent with the way we've run Southern Power over the years is we're always looking at, you know, high credit quality counterparties, typically, you know, load serving, maybe other investor-owned utilities, EMCs, munis. Yeah, we definitely do not build it and see who shows up.
Last question for me, the price per kW seems pretty close to what it would cost to build at least a new CT, if not, you know, all that far off from a new CCGT. In terms of your consideration of new build, would that also likely revolve around your ability to contract the plant before it's completed?
Yeah, for sure. I mean, new build or the uprates, same operating philosophy, long-term strategy, long-term credit-worthy counterparties. It just fits in the business model that we've held to for years and would continue to execute in that same fashion.
Yeah. We've said before, we don't take merchant risk. We're not in the merchant business. Everything's gonna be contracted.
And then most-
Then most likely in your service territory, the party that you're contracting with is probably another utility like a co-op or something like that.
Yeah. That's typically the case. That's right.
Great. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you, Paul.
Good question.
That will conclude today's question and answer session. Sir, are there any closing remarks?
No. Again, let me thank you guys for joining us. We're excited about the growth we're experiencing. We're excited about the operations of our company. I'll end where I started. We believe we have a bright future ahead. Thank you for joining us today on this first quarter earnings call. Everybody, stay safe. Have a good day.
Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes The Southern Company first quarter 2026 earnings call. You may now disconnect.