The Southern Company: +6GW Contracted Data Center Load Could Add to GA and AL Capital Upside; Regulatory Backdrop in Focus; 2Q26 Ahead

Research evidence excerpt

The Southern Company: +6GW Contracted Data Center Load Could Add to GA and AL Capital Upside; Regulatory Backdrop in Focus; 2Q26 Ahead

J P M O R G A N North America Equity Research

30 July 2026

The Southern Company

+6GW Contracted Data Center Load Could Add to GA Neutral

and AL Capital Upside; Regulatory Backdrop in Focus; SO, SO US

2Q26 Ahead Price (29 Jul 26):$96.05

Head of North America Power,

• Strong data center contracting progression adds to GA and AL RFP Utilities, Midstream, LNG, and Nuclear

upside potential. After announcing OpenAI’s Georgia project, large load

contracts progressed again this quarter, with 6GW total moving into the Jeremy Tonet, CFA AC

‘contracted’ bucket, 3GW each in GA and AL. The company points to 8GW in (1-212) 622-4915

jeremy.b.tonet@jpmorgan.com

late stages, including 3GW projected to be finalized near term. Recent

North American Utilities

conversations with the company spoke to load beyond the next 1GW in GA

having the potential to push the 2-6GW RFP above the 6GW high end. We Diana Niles

understand historical RFPs have selected 70% company-owned resources and (1-212) 622-3328

diana.niles@jpmorgan.com

that SO uses a $2bn/GW capex assumption. Given company commentary on

Aidan C Kelly expansion opportunities in the GA RFP, we believe today’s update could

(1-212) 622-4912

present additional upside to the ~$2.8-8.4bn range we previously calculated. aidan.x.kelly@jpmchase.com

Additionally, we see an opportunity for the AL RFP to prompt upside, though

Eli Jossen, CFA

we await more details there. While we acknowledge project size differs, three (1-212) 622-4113

new projects representing 6GW contracted vs 1Q represents an average project eli.jossen@jpmchase.com

size of 2GW, which we view as a demonstration of contracting might, J.P.