Good morning, and welcome to Southern Company's 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Christopher Womack, Chairman, President, and CEO of Southern Company. Go ahead.
Thank you, Paul. Good morning, welcome stockholders and guests to our 2026 Annual Meeting. 2025 was an excellent and transformative year for Southern Company. I look forward to providing a business update and answering your questions during our meeting today. Before we call the meeting to order, I would ask Sterling Spainhour, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, to review several matters relevant to today's meeting.
Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone. The agenda and the rules of conduct for today's meeting are posted on the virtual meeting web portal at the bottom of your screen. In the unlikely event that today's meeting cannot be completed due to technical difficulties, stay connected to the meeting website for at least 10 minutes. If the meeting cannot be resumed, visit our website at southerncompany.com for information about reconvening the meeting. 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 filings. Chris, I'll turn the meeting back over to you.
Thank you, Sterling. As noted in the agenda, the order of the meeting will be as follows: We will first conduct the formal business of the meeting, in which we will present the 10 items being voted on, address any stockholder questions specific to the items being voted on, and provide preliminary voting results. I will provide a business update followed by the general question and answer period. Before we conduct the formal business of the meeting, I would like to introduce the individuals who, along with me, have been nominated for election to The Southern Company Board of Directors. Our nominees for director are participating virtually in today's meeting. Janaki Akella , Shantella Cooper, Anthony Earley, James Etheredge, David Grain, John D. Johns, David Meador, William Smith, Jr., Kristine Svinicki , Lizanne Thomas, and John Turner.
Don James and Dale Klein are retiring from the board effective as of the conclusion of the annual meeting. Don and Dale have served on the board during a transformational time for the company and their leadership, wisdom, experience, and insights challenged us to think differently and helped us grow into the company we are today. I want to sincerely thank Don and Dale for the commitment, leadership, and expertise that each have provided to Southern Company. We are grateful for their service and honored that they remain invaluable resources to us. We will now conduct the formal business of the meeting. The meeting is called to order, and the polls are open. The corporate secretary has confirmed that a quorum is represented in person or by proxy. Deloitte & Touche has been appointed as the independent registered public accounting firm 2026.
Tim Gillam and Tom Keefe of Deloitte & Touche are participating in today's meeting. Broadridge Financial Solutions has been appointed to serve as independent inspector of elections. Jan Castillo, on behalf of Broadridge, is participating in today's meeting as the independent inspector. I will now ask Sterling to continue with the formal business of the meeting.
Thank you, Chris. Most stockholders voted in advance of the meeting. If you have not already voted or you wish to change your vote, you may do so through the Vote Here button on your screen. Stockholders were able to submit questions in advance of this meeting through the proxy voting portal. If you are a stockholder who wishes to submit a question and have not already done so, you may do so now through the Ask a Question field on your screen. There are 10 items we are voting on today, seven company proposals and three stockholder proposals. We will first present items one through seven, the company proposals. Item one is the election of 12 directors. Item two is an advisory vote on executive officer compensation, often referred to as say on pay.
Item three is the ratification of the appointment of Deloitte & Touche as the independent registered public accounting firm for 2026. Item four through seven are amendments to the company's restated certificate of incorporation. Item four is the approval of an amendment to authorize additional common stock. Item five is the approval of an amendment to authorize the issuance of preferred stock. Item six is the approval of an amendment to provide for officer exculpation. Item seven is the approval of miscellaneous amendments to modernize, clarify, and conform. Items eight through 10 are stockholder proposals. The proponents for each proposal will have three minutes to present their proposal. For item eight, the stockholder proposal regarding independent board chairman was submitted by Mr. John Chevedden. Mr. Chevedden will present the proposal. Operator, open Mr. Chevedden's phone line.
Hello, this is John Chevedden. Proposal eight independent board chairman. Joe's request that the board of directors adopt an enduring policy and amend the governing documents, including the corporate governance guidelines, in order that two separate people hold the office of the chairman and the office of CEO as soon as possible. The chairman of the board shall be an independent director. An independent lead director shall not be a substitute for an independent board chairman. The board shall have the discretion to select an interim chairman of the board who is not an independent director to serve while the board is required to seek an independent chairman of the board on an accelerated basis. An independent board chairman at all times improves corporate governance by bringing impartiality, objective oversight, and external expertise to board decisions, mitigating conflicts of interest, enhancing transparency, and boosting shareholder confidence.
An independent board chairman could also help Southern Company deal with good corporate citizen issues like these. The Energy and Policy Institute reported that the Southern Company spent $62 million on group spending climate misinformation. The Sierra Club criticized Southern Company for lagging in coal retirement, continuing to invest heavily in fracked gas, and having plans that do not align with net zero targets. A report from the Southern Environmental Law Center claims the company's fossil fuel investments lead to dirtier air, more severe weather, and higher power bills for customers. Please vote yes. Independent board chairman, proposal eight.
Thank you, Mr. Chevedden. After careful consideration, the board has recommended a vote against the proposal. You can read the board's statement and response beginning on page 80 of the proxy statement. For item nine, the stockholder proposal regarding a report on data center costs was submitted by As You Sow. Ms. Kelly Poole will present the proposal. Operator, open Ms. Poole's phone line.
Thank you, members of the board. My name is Kelly Poole. I am presenting As You Sow's proposal number nine. This proposal asks the company to issue a report disclosing if and how it is putting safeguards in place to avoid shifting the cost of building new data center related energy infrastructure onto residential and small business customers. Southern is planning a record-breaking capital plan to meet the massive power demands being made by a range of companies seeking to build new data centers. This plan includes expansion of gas plants and the delayed retirement of coal units. These fossil fuel plants are expensive to operate, in contrast with renewables, have the potential to lock in higher consumer rates for existing customers for decades to come.
Despite a surge in requests from data center developers seeking contracts to connect to Southern's grid, investors are concerned that the company is spending too much money to meet demand that may be speculative in the first instance or which may not last. As has been the case in the past, once competition shakes out among the tech companies, many will not remain in business at the level they expected. Southern could end up with significant unused generation capacity, and ultimately, residential and small business customers could be saddled with these costs of stranded infrastructure. Residential customers are already experiencing an affordability crisis.
In Georgia, electricity bills, for the average residential customer increased 43% between 2023 and 2025, and the state now ranks 26th in the country for energy burden, meaning a relatively large share of household income is spent on energy bills. Given concerns over the cost recovery of Southern's record-breaking capital plan, investors would benefit from greater clarity and disclosure from the company about the safeguards it is putting in place to prevent rate increases from data center contracts and potential stranded energy infrastructure. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Poole. After careful consideration, the board has recommended a vote against the proposal. You can read the board's statement and response beginning on page 82 of the proxy statement. For item 10, the stockholder proposal regarding a report on climate due diligence was submitted by Mr. Steve Milloy as registered agent of New Breeze. Mr. Milloy pre-recorded his presentation of the proposal. Operator, play the presentation.
Good morning, fellow shareholders. I am Steve Milloy, president of New Breeze, a nonprofit educational organization. I'm asking you to vote yes on item number 10 for a climate due diligence report. Our proposal asks management to reassess its goal of net zero emissions by 2050. This request is based on recent scientific, economic, technological, and political changes. What is management's response? A flat no. Allow me to give you some relevant examples of bona fide negative responses. A few weeks ago, I listened to the 2022 Nobel Prize winner in physics, a man named John Clauser, describe in painstaking detail how the climate hoax is based on fraudulent science. Is there anyone in management, any employee, or any consultant that knows more about climate science than the 2022 Nobel Prize winner in physics? No.
In 2023, the Electric Power Research Institute, a research group our company financially supports issued a major report concluding that economy-wide net zero was an impossible goal. Did anyone in management read and take appropriate action on that conclusion? No. Management refuses to reconsider its net zero goal, even though actual experts declare it to be an absurdity. Even if you believe in the climate hoax, our company could go dark today and forever, and the emissions reductions would make no difference to the climate or to the weather. The math is very simple. Did management ask any corporate accountant to do it? No. Don't wonder why we voted against each and every board member. The arrogance of their ignorance and the ignorance of their arrogance is astounding.
Our country is in an energy crisis with no end in sight because the utility industry, including our company, rushed to embrace the climate hoax and the green new scam. We need affordable and reliable electricity for data centers, the reindustrialization of America, and for our residential and commercial customers. Instead, customers are paying more and more for less available and less reliable electricity, all because our company wanted to pretend the climate hoax was real. Apparently, what's important to management is virtue signaling and profiteering off taxpayers and ratepayers. Absent the climate hoax and its evil spawn net zero, we would be producing more electricity at lower prices. We are doing the exact opposite. Management has opted to side with Al Gore over a Nobel physicist, utility industry researchers, and simple math. That is no way to run a utility. Please vote yes on item number 10.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Milloy. After careful consideration, the board has recommended a vote against the proposal. You can read the board's statement in response beginning on page 84 of the proxy statement. At this time, we will address stockholder questions specific to the items up for vote. As a reminder, the general stockholder question and answer period will occur after the business update. Chris, we received a question in advance of the meeting about the audit firm ratification. A stockholder has noted that Deloitte has served as the company's independent audit firm since 2002. The stockholder asked whether the firm's independence or objectivity is clouded after so long.
Sterling, thank you for the question. The audit committee of our board of directors views auditor independence as foundational to audit quality and works to limit the potential for external influence over the company's audit firm. These efforts seek to reinforce the reliability of our audited financial statements. The company complies with the auditor independence rules issued by the SEC and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. This includes requiring that the lead audit partner and the engagement quality reviewer partner serve in those roles for no more than five consecutive years of service. Certain other partners on the engagement are limited to seven consecutive years. The audit committee has also adopted a policy on engagement of the independent auditor for audit and non-audit services, as described beginning on page 72 of the Proxy Statement.
Although not required, the board annually seeks stockholder ratifications of the appointment of our independent registered public accounting firm. The board values stockholders' feedback, and the Audit Committee considers these voting results when selecting the independent audit firm. Notably, our stockholders have consistently ratified the Audit Committee's selection with over 97% support at each of the past six annual meetings.
Thank you, Chris. There are no further stockholder questions specific to the items up for vote. We have concluded the presentation of the 10 items up for vote. The polls are now closed. We will provide a preliminary voting report based on the votes submitted prior to the meeting. For item one, all 12 nominees for directors have been elected, with each director receiving at least 97% of the votes in favor. For item two, the say on pay vote has been approved, receiving 95% of the votes in favor. For item three, the appointment of Deloitte & Touche has been ratified, receiving 97% of votes in favor. For item four, the amendment to authorize additional common stock has been approved, receiving 97% of votes in favor.
For item five, the amendment to authorize the issuance of preferred stock has been approved, receiving 65% of the issued and outstanding shares in favor. For item six, the amendment to provide for officer exculpation has been approved, receiving 61% of the issued and outstanding shares in favor. For item seven, the miscellaneous amendments to modernize, clarify, and conform have been approved, receiving 70% of the issued and outstanding shares in favor. For item eight, the stockholder proposal regarding independent board chairman has not been approved, receiving approximately 13% of the votes in favor. For item nine, the stockholder proposal regarding a report on data center costs has not been approved, receiving less than 10% of votes in favor.
For item 10, the stockholder proposal regarding a report on climate due diligence has not been approved, receiving less than 1.5% of votes in favor. The shares represented by the votes submitted during this meeting will be included in the final voting report, which will be filed with the SEC in the next few days. Chris, I will turn it back to you.
Thank you, Sterling. The business, the formal business portion of the meeting is hereby adjourned. Now I have the pleasure to provide you an update on the state of your company. 2025 was an excellent and transformative year for Southern Company. We delivered strong financial results, strengthened our energy portfolio, and continued advancing cutting-edge innovation. Across our service territory, we saw some of the most significant energy demand growth in our history, driven by a combination of data centers, advanced manufacturing, and a continued residential customer growth. Our team successfully met the moment. With our customer-first mindset, in 2025, we advanced plans to responsibly serve the extraordinary long-term growth we're projecting to help ensure the benefits of growth and share by everyone.
As we work to add new critical infrastructure, we have taken foundational steps to maintain reliable service, deliver rate stability, and drive long-term savings for our customers. In 2025, more than 120 companies announced new or expanded operations in our electric and gas footprint. Projects expected to support more than 21,000 new jobs, that future further underscore just how attractive and competitive our service territories remain. For example, Mississippi Power played a pivotal role in helping to bring Compass Datacenters' $10 billion hyperscale campus to Meridian, Mississippi, one of the largest technology investments in the Southeast. Outside the Southeast, we continue to see momentum in our gas utilities, including a recently announced Hyundai investment in Illinois that is expected to bring 2,500 jobs and a $500 million investment to the Nicor Gas service territory.
At Southern Company, we are capitalizing on transformative growth opportunities while delivering energy reliability and rate stability as energy demands grow, with base rates held stable in Alabama and Georgia until at least 2029, and the recent stipulated agreement with regulatory staff to lower rates in Georgia as a part for the recovery of fuel and storm costs. Additionally, the recently announced historic $26.5 billion in loan agreements with the Department of Energy would benefit customers across Alabama and Georgia with an estimated savings of $7 billion over the approximately 30-year term of the loans. Southern Company's grid is engineered and built for purpose, to support significant growth and adapt to a rapidly evolving landscape.
To prepare for what's ahead, we plan to invest more than $80 billion over the next five years to continue strengthening the grid, expanding generation, and deploying advanced technologies that make our systems smarter and more resilient. Construction is already underway on new generation in Georgia and Alabama, with Alabama Power building the state's first-ever utility-scale battery energy storage facility with a 150 MW capacity. Georgia Power receiving approval from the Georgia Public Service Commission to procure approximately 9,900 MW of diverse, cost-effective generation resources to meet the state's growing energy demands.
Southern Power also continues to grow with 400 MW of uprates at its gas facilities and roughly 1,000 MW of repowering with its wind fleet, in addition to the construction of the Millers Branch solar facility in Texas, its largest solar facility to date at 512 megawatts. Meanwhile, over the past year, PowerSecure has experienced growing success in data center infrastructure, particularly in supporting AI-driven load growth with its resiliency products. Even as we invest for long-term growth to best support the communities we're privileged to serve, our teams continue to rise to meet challenges, especially when severe weather strikes. In January 2025, Winter Storm Enzo brought record-breaking snowfall across our footprint.
Despite hazardous conditions, our teams were there to support our communities, restoring power for more than 115,000 customers, while Southern Company Gas safely met near record demand across multiple states, with Virginia Natural Gas and Chattanooga Gas recording their second highest demand days ever. We're also using technology, including AI, to help respond to severe weather more efficiently and effectively. Atlanta Gas Light launched a new mobile application to provide faster updates and critical information directly to customers during an outage. In January 2026, during Winter Storm Fern, advanced analytics and AI-enabled tools helped us anticipate impacts and pre-position crews ahead of the storm, speeding restoration.
We're putting AI to work in other ways across the company too, such as using smart meter data to gain insights on how energy is used within the home, allowing us to give customers a clearer understanding of their energy use, more personalized guidance and better access to programs that will help them manage their bills. We're also looking for ways AI can help us improve efficiency and support our employees as we redesign processes to simplify work, automate activities, and enable our people to focus on the most impactful work. Our growth is inseparable from the growth of the communities we serve. Our commitment to these communities goes well beyond the energy solutions we provide. Through philanthropic investments, employee volunteer efforts, and economic development initiatives, our operating companies have been helping hometowns across our service footprint grow and prosper.
Environmental stewardship continues to be an important part of that commitment. Our teams continue to protect and conserve the natural resources that sustain our communities through programs like Renew Our Rivers and partnerships with organizations like the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. In this watershed moment for the energy industry, Southern Company is leading with purpose, delivering energy that is reliable and resilient while investing in the infrastructure and technologies that will power our communities for generations to come. A true culmination of this hard work and dedication was Southern Company being named to Fortune's list of the World's Most Admired Companies for 2026, earning the number one spot in the electric and gas utilities industry. This recognition truly belongs to our teammates who show up each and every day with purpose and a deep commitment to serving our customers.
For the 25th consecutive year, Southern Company Board of Directors approved an increase in our annual common stock dividend. This marks the 79th consecutive year, dating back to 1948, in which Southern Company is on track to pay a dividend that is equal to or greater than the previous year. An increase in our 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 stockholders. We're incredibly proud of our strong dividend track record, which continues to be an integral part of Southern Company's long-term value proposition. In closing, Southern Company is a great company because of the hard work and dedication of our nearly 30,000 employees. We're poised for a bright future.
I am confident we have the people, the experience, and the scale to meet this moment. As always, thank you for your interest in The Southern Company. We will use our remaining time together today to answer your questions. I have asked Laura Hewett, the Vice President, Corporate Governance and Corporate Secretary, to assist with the question and answers.
Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone. We received questions in advance of today's meeting, and we also received questions this morning during the meeting. We will try to answer all questions in the time allotted. As noted in the rules of conduct, questions from multiple stockholders on the same topic or that are otherwise related may be grouped, summarized, and answered together. Chris, our first question is about the director election process. A stockholder has asked, "I would like to be a member of the board of directors. How do I become one?
Thank you for that question. The Nominating, Governance and Corporate Responsibility Committee of our board identifies, evaluates, and recommends nominees for election to our board. The process is ongoing as the committee evaluates the mix of skills, experience that may enhance the board's overall effectiveness. Using this talent framework, the committee identifies and evaluates qualified candidates with input from an independent search firm. The committee also considers potential board candidates as recommended by stockholders. Under our bylaws, stockholders may also directly nominate a person for election as a director at an annual meeting if the stockholders satisfy certain ownership requirements referred to as proxy access. More information about the board nomination process is described on pages 12 and 13 of our 2026 proxy statement.
Chris, our next question is from a stockholder who expressed some concern about directors who have lengthy tenure. Can you speak to the board refreshment process and how tenure is considered?
Very glad to, thank you again for this question. Our board refreshment process is ongoing and focused on aligning our composition with the company's long-term strategy and providing meaningful succession planning. We maintain an evergreen board search process and have retained a search firm to assist the board in identifying qualified candidates. Our Nominating, Governance, and Corporate Responsibility Committee regularly evaluates the evolving mix of attributes, including age and tenure, skills, experience, qualifications, and expertise necessary to facilitate effective board oversight of the company's risk and opportunities. The board aims to strike the appropriate balance between the knowledge and context that comes from longer-term service with the fresh ideas and experience brought by new additions to the board. Currently, the board believes that the average tenure over approximately six years for the 12 director nominees that were up for reelection today strikes that balance.
The board will continue to refresh its membership over time. Our approach to board refreshment, succession planning, and composition is described beginning on page 11 of the proxy statement.
All right, Chris, the next question is about equity compensation. It's a pretty long question, I'm gonna try to read the whole thing. A stockholder has asked why we give shares of Southern Company stock to executives and directors. The stockholder recommends that the company pay them cash and allow them to purchase shares at a reduced rate, 75%-85% of the current price, and require them to hold the shares for a specified period of time, depending on the discount. The stockholder further states that giving away shares that are created for such use diminishes the equity and voting power of each shareholder and that all shares used for such purposes should be purchased by the company on the open market.
Thank you, Laura. That is a long and complicated question. Let me take a shot at it. Our Compensation and Talent Development Committee establishes the compensation structure for executive officers, and the Nominating, Governance and Corporate Responsibility Committee oversees independent director compensation. In determining the structure of our compensation plans, the board considers competitive market information and best design practices. Executive equity plans typically have a performance component designed to align executive interests with those of our stockholders. Getting this alignment right helps ensure we drive stockholder returns and motivate the best talent to run our business. The company carefully manages our equity compensation program, which comprises only a small portion of our overall outstanding shares and has a minimal dilutive effect. Finally, equity compensation is a cost-effective way to manage cash flow and preserve capital, and it does not require an immediate cash outlay.
All right, Chris, we've received several questions about data centers, and I'm gonna read one that is representative of the questions we've received. The construction and activation of data centers requires significant power generation capacity. Does Southern Company have sufficient clean energy generation capacity to serve the planned data centers in the individual company regions?
Laura, thank you for that question. That question goes directly to one of the most, I think, important strategic issues facing the company today. How we serve responsibly or how we responsibly serve unprecedented projected load growth for data centers while continuing to provide clean, safe, reliable, and affordable energy for all customers. Across our regulatory electric utilities, we're constructing some 10 GW of new generation resources, including new combined cycles and battery energy storage systems paired with solar. We're also investing to modernize and extend hydro generation facilities and upgrade existing nuclear units to generate more power. Southern Company remains committed to our approach to sustainably serving this exciting growth opportunity, including pricing and contract terms designed to ensure that this growth benefits all customers.
All right, Chris. Our next question, the stockholder is asking about the company's approach to environmental controls. Here's the question: What is Southern Company's policy on pollution and spills?
Again, Laura, thank you for that question. Southern Company conducts business in ways that are protective of the environment and communities. These principles guide our commitment to environmental responsibility as we provide energy to the customers and communities we are privileged to serve. We have a goal to meet or surpass all environmental laws and regulations. Compliance is the foundation of our environmental commitment. Our commitment to the environment applies to every employee each and every day. We focus on innovation to continually improve the effectiveness of our environmental programs. We're at the forefront of researching and developing new energy technologies, including environmental controls that help reduce the environmental impacts of our operations.
All right, Chris, we still have a couple more minutes. Let's try to get a few more questions in. The next question is about non-traditional power sources. The stockholder is asking, instead of expanding and building solar and wind energy power plants, has company management considered building plants that use waste or refuse to generate power? These facilities can provide a reliable power supply regardless of weather, and the fuel source is abundant. Stockholder says some cities will even pay to get rid of it, but the plant with access to rail and barge saves landfill space too.
Again, Laura, thank you for that question. A very interesting question. I'm pleased to report that we have several facilities in our resource mix today that use landfill gas or wood waste to generate power. Georgia Power uses waste-derived fuels primarily through landfill gas energy and biomass projects almost entirely via purchase power agreements. There's tremendous value in a diverse, resilient portfolio of resources. In our work with state regulators through our Integrated Resource Planning processes, we plan for a fleet that prioritizes our customers first and foremost, while also meeting the needs of our communities, employees, and other stakeholders. The objective of this process is to identify future resources, considering risk and the need for flexibility that recognizes economic considerations, meets or exceeds reliability criteria, and complies with all environmental laws and regulations.
As we strive to effectively meet our customers' future needs, we continue to enhance our planning processes, which routinely consider a host of factors, including environmental impacts, safety, reliability, resilience, and economic issues and affordability.
All right, Chris, we've had a couple questions come in about new nuclear. I'm going to read one of these representative questions. I read that Plant Vogtle is the largest generator of clean energy in the US Do you have plans to add more nuclear to your fleet?
Laura, thank you for that question. Georgia Power and its partners built the first new nuclear units in this country in over 30 years, Plant Vogtle's units 3 and 4, and they're operating phenomenally. This long-term investment will benefit customers and communities for the next 60-80 years, helping us meet the energy demands for our growing economy. This country needs more nuclear, and it's going to require input and effort from many stakeholders moving forward to mitigate risk. The primary risks that must be addressed are cost. Lowering the overall cost of nuclear development through production and investment tax credits and federal grants is a must. Credit. We must be able to protect the credit rating of the utility during construction. Completion risk. Cost overrun protection must exist to protect customers and stockholders from the potential challenges of long construction projects.
I am very appreciative and thankful of the actions taken by the Trump administration to support the construction of new nuclear in this country, including progress on the regulatory front, conversations led by the Department of Energy, and working to address long lead times for supply chains. We continue and will continue to engage across the nuclear landscape, talk about the value of new nuclear going forward, and share best practices and lessons learned during our experience with Plant Vogtle units three and four, both domestically and internationally. Southern Company also supports nuclear technology in all of its forms, including small modular reactors and advanced nuclear reactors. We believe our experience with the AP 1000 could reduce or eliminate first of its kind regulatory technical risk. If we build new nuclear facilities, we will ultimately choose the technology that makes the most sense for our customers.
As we said previously, we would only consider new nuclear once 3 key risks have been meaningfully mitigated.
All right, Chris, I think we can get one more question in in our time allotted. One that came in just a few minutes ago has to do with the Iran war impact. Has the conflict in the Middle East had any material effect on our company?
Laura, that's a very timely question. Geopolitical developments can affect broader macroeconomic conditions, commodity markets, and even supply chains. To the extent these matters are material to our business, we address them through corporate risk management practices and disclosures in our SEC filings consistent with regulatory requirements. With the war in Iran, there has been great interest in the energy markets and the overall energy economy. We stay in touch with our teams across the system, including those who interact with our suppliers. To date, the impact has been very minimal. Among the advantages for a company of our scale is a large portfolio of suppliers and strong vendor relationships to help navigate such challenges collaboratively and proactively. Our full complement of potential mitigations includes existing project contingencies, contractual provisions, potential regulatory approaches, and options to deploy alternative resources.
Importantly for Southern Company, natural gas prices have stayed very stable during the war thus far, which speaks to the availability of the natural gas supply in this country. That availability puts us in an incredibly positive situation. Overall, we do not expect a material impact on our business. Our focus remains on operational excellence, disciplined financial management, cybersecurity and infrastructure resilience, and meeting our obligations to customers, regulators, employees, and shareholders. We continuously monitor global developments for potential impacts while remaining committed to providing clean, safe, reliable, and affordable energy.
All right, Chris, we are at the end of our allotted time. There are still a couple stockholder questions that we have not been able to address.
Laura, thank you again for that comment. Let me say, we value the time our stockholders have taken today to participate in the meeting, and it is important to us to address all questions. We have the names and email addresses of the stockholders that submitted a question for today's meeting. If we have not been able to respond to your question or the topic of your question, we will respond to you directly via email. In closing, let me say thank you for your time today and for your continued support of Southern Company. Stay safe, take care of yourself, and take care of each other. Have a good rest of the day.
The meeting has now concluded. Thank you for joining, and have a pleasant day.