Georgia Power's rates a key part of Southern's fourth-quarter profit

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By Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Customers paying down the financing costs for Georgia Power's planned nuclear expansion project, as well the utility's rate hike, were a key part of parent Southern Co.'s robust fourth-quarter profit, the company said early Wednesday.

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Bob Andres bandres@ajc.com Water cooling towers line the Chattahoochee River at Georgia Power's Plant McDonough near Smyrna.

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Atlanta-based Southern reported a net income of $261 million, or 30 cents a share, a 70 percent increase from $153 million, or 18 cents a share during the same period a year ago.

Earnings for the company for 2011 were $2.20 billion, or $2.57 a share, up from $1.98 billion, or $2.37 cents a share in 2010.

Southern's profits were "positively influenced by regulatory actions -- primarily at the subsidiary Georgia Power -- that became effective in 2011," the company said in a news release. Georgia Power customers began paying a monthly fee for the financing costs of two planned nuclear units at Plant Vogtle in January.

That fee is on top of three-year rate increased approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission a year ago, adding an average $10.76 to bills each month.

Southern Chief Executive Officer Tom Fanning said the company spends between $5.5 billion and $6 billion a year on capital projects, the bulk of which are related to the planned expansion at Plant Vogtle as well as converting Plant McDonough from coal to natural gas. Those projects require regulatory approvals that affect rates and eventually the company's profits.

"We're investing a lot of money in the business, and as a result, we have a series of regulatory actions," Fanning told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Georgia Power also is the only one of the utilities in Southern's four-state territory that reported an increase in fourth quarter revenue: $1.8 billion, a 1.2 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2010.

Revenue also increased for Southern Power, the company's wholesale energy unit.

Southern reported $17.66 billion in revenue for 2011, compared with $17.46 billion the year before. Revenue for the quarter, ending Dec. 31, fell 2 percent to $3.70 billion, compared with $3.77 billion during the same period in 2010.

Lower electricity sales, mostly from milder weather in 2011, dragged on revenue, the company said. Residential energy sales were down 7.7 percent and commercial energy sales dropped 2.9 percent, the company said. Industrial energy sales were up 3.2 percent.