US utility Southern Co tops quarterly profit estimates on strong power demand

• The Atlanta, Georgia-based company reported nearly a 4% increase in total kilowatt-hour sales in the second quarter, led by higher commercial sales.
• Quarterly commercial sales grew only 0.4% excluding sales to data centers, driven primarily by FIFA World Cup activity in the region.
• Southern Co is the second-largest utility company in the U.S. by customer base, with a presence in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia.
• Data center usage was up 55% in the second quarter, with Southern Co's total contracted large-load customers growing to 17 gigawatts.
• The company said it added 6 GW of additional contracts since April, with 3 GW each in Alabama and Georgia.
• The utility serves companies including Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and Compass Datacenters.
• During the second quarter, Southern Co's operating expenses fell by $8 million to $5.2 billion, while interest costs dropped nearly 9% to $796 million.
• The utility posted an adjusted profit of $1.13 per share for the three months ended June 30, compared with analysts' estimates of $1 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

July 30 (Reuters) - Southern Co beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter profit on Thursday, as the U.S. utility benefitted from robust electricity demand from data centers as well as homes and businesses.

Electricity demand has been rising at an unprecedented pace in the U.S., largely driven by the proliferation of power-hungry data centers dedicated to AI and as homes and businesses reduce the use of fossil fuels for heat and transportation.