Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Southern Company (Southern) exhibits policy engagement that is broadly misaligned with policy pathways for delivering the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. The company engages with mostly negative positions on US climate policy, with evidence of advocacy at the federal level and across several states including Alabama and Mississippi. Although Southern's top-line messaging on climate shifted positively in 2019, the company still advocates for policies to facilitate the buildout of fossil gas infrastructure. Southern is a board member of several groups that strategically oppose US climate policy, including the US Chamber of Commerce. The CEO of subsidiary Southern Company Gas was the 2022 Chair for the American Gas Association, an obstructive group that advocates for fossil gas infrastructure, and continues to serve on the board of directors in 2025.
Top-Line Messaging on Climate Policy: Southern demonstrates a mix of positive and negative top-line messaging on climate policy. The company’s current position on climate change represents a shift from 2015 through 2017 when the company and its then-CEO, Tom Fanning, publicly disputed the science of climate change. Southern's corporate website, accessed July 2025, does not appear to fully support government regulation to respond to climate change and offers general support for the Paris Agreement.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: Southern engages on US climate-related policy with a mix of positive and negative positions. At the federal level, the company submitted October 2023 comments with the Differentiated Gas Coordinating Council that advocated for weaker methane reporting revisions for the Inflation Reduction Act’s methane fee. On the state level, Southern continues to demonstrate negative positions on renewable energy policy: according to an October 2024 article by the Alabama Reflector, subsidiary Alabama Power is advocating to maintain the state’s tax on rooftop solar.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Southern Company takes mostly negative positions on the energy transition and strategically advocates for the buildout of fossil gas infrastructure. The company repeatedly advocated against the Biden administration’s power sector regulation to address carbon emissions from gas and coal plants: Southern legally challenged the rule in an August 2024 emergency application for immediate stay via the ad hoc coalition Electric Generators for a Sensible Transition, and previously submitted August 2023 individual comments and joint comments with the Power Generators Air Coalition (PGen) in opposition to the original proposal, emphasizing that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should facilitate the buildout of fossil gas infrastructure. Southern also advocated for specific fossil gas projects: in July 2023, its subsidiaries submitted an amicus brief that advocated for the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Following the invasion of Ukraine, then-CEO Fanning appeared on an April 2022 video interview with CNBC in which he advocated for the expansion of domestic fossil gas infrastructure and production, stating that the Biden administration should “unleash the energy economy” to aid Europe and combat rising fuel prices. In June 2022, the Guardian reported that Southern is a supporter of Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, an advocacy group that appears to run campaigns to gain public support for fossil gas on the state-level.
At the state level, subsidiary Nicor Gas submitted several comments from April 2024 to February 2025 on the Illinois Future of Gas proceeding, including comments that advocated against policy measures to reduce fossil gas in the state.
Industry Association Governance: Southern published an industry association review in November 2022, however without providing detail on each group’s engagement activities on specific climate policies. Southern left America’s Power in 2019 as one of two final utilities to leave the group. However, it remains a member of associations that demonstrate strong negative engagement on climate policy, including as a board member of the US Chamber of Commerce. In addition, Kimberly Greene, the CEO of subsidiary Southern Company Gas, served as the 2022 Chair for the American Gas Association (AGA), which opposes US climate policy and has led a campaign since 2019 to preempt electrification mandates on the state level. Subsidiary Southern Company Gas serves on the AGA board in 2025.
A detailed assessment of the company's corporate review on climate policy engagement can be found on InfluenceMap's CA100+ Investor Hub here.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q3 2025.