Paul Fremont: And then my other question has to do with sort of the tougher EPA rules. If those ultimately were to be adopted, does that — do you need to accelerate the time frame for coal plant retirements?
Chris Womack: And Paul, that’s like we’re evaluating those rules as we speak today. And I mean, I think there’s a lot we’ve kind of gotten to very quickly on the gas side in terms of capacity factors and the expectations for carbon capture. I mean, I think there’s more work for us to do in terms of the coal implications. But at first blush, like I said, I think they’re in practical and probably yet would make it more difficult to run coal units as well any longer.
Paul Fremont: Great. I think that’s it for me. Thank you.
Chris Womack: Great to hear. Thank you.
Dan Tucker: Thank you, Paul.
Operator: Our next question is from Ryan Levine with Citi. Please proceed with your question.
Ryan Levine: Hi, everybody.
Chris Womack: Hi, Ryan.
Ryan Levine: Hi. What time frame or cadence do you expect some of these data center companies that are shopping multiple jurisdictions to make a decision? And then in terms of in development projects, it looks like there was three pending construction at the time of the stipulated agreement testimony. Have those pending construction data centers started construction? Or any update you could provide on that?
Dan Tucker: I don’t know that we have the specific construction updates, Ryan, but I will tell you just in general, this is — I mean, think of it as a continuous kind of waterfall, right? I mean, there are always data centers coming in and exploring and then committing. And so it’s just — it’s an ongoing thing. So we’ve got — right now, there’s 12 under construction that totaled about 2,400 megawatts.
Ryan Levine: Okay. So that includes one or two that are still pending, okay. And then given that continuous nature to the extent that the momentum were to continue to build. Is there a time frame that you may seek to reengage the updated IRP process? Or any kind of framework you might apply to assess when additional resources may need to be get approval for?
Chris Womack: I think we have simply said before, Georgia has RFP in 2025. And so they’ll factor in new requests, new demands, new load doing that proceeding. Alabama and Mississippi will do make similar decisions in their processes based on the demands and requests that they receive as well.
Dan Tucker: And coming out of this last process, Ryan, there was a part of the stipulation is that Georgia will kind of keep the staff and commission updated a little more — not real time, but on a quarterly basis, leading up to the next formal process that way everyone has line of sight as to what is emerging.
Chris Womack: Because it goes back to some of the points we laid out in the prepared remarks. Is this load real? And so I think that quarterly update helps give the commission and the staff the information they need to give confirmation of the reality of this load.
Dan Tucker: And that next regular filing is scheduled for next January, January of 2026 or 2025, rather.
Ryan Levine: And then last question for me. In terms of the customer preference for carbon resources, any stipulations or any requirements that they’re speaking to specifically as they’re looking to decide what locations to locate their data centers?
Chris Womack: I mean early on, we saw a lot of requests for 24/7 carbon-free of late. We see the request for do you have power. And like I said, we continue to build additional carbon-free resources. And so we’ll continue to work with them. But right now, I think there is just a simple desire and request for resources for energy.
Dan Tucker: And we’re very transparent about our own transition plans. And I think that is an opportunity for them to latch on to transitioning along with us.
Ryan Levine: Great. Thanks for taking my question.
Operator: Our next question comes from Travis Miller with Morningstar. Please proceed with your question.
Travis Miller: Good afternoon. Also congrats on Vogtle and I thought it was a very good choice of words arduous in your prepared remarks. I appreciate that.
Chris Womack: We chose that word very carefully.
Travis Miller: I figured. On the load forecast and specifically even the George IRP, what does that mean for T&D investment? Is there upside there in addition to the generation upside you talked about?
Dan Tucker: Yeah. And so if you remember, Travis, part of our year-end update on the capital plan, I mean, it totaled $5 billion of increased capital. There was a big piece of that, that was also transmission, and that will continue to be part of the long-term planning discussions we have with our states. Absolutely, as we add new resources, transmission considerations have to take place, absolutely as our fleet transitions from its current state to its future state, transmission considerations are part of that. So they will clearly be transmission opportunities along the way here.
Chris Womack: And I’ll also add there’s got to be some additional build-out of gas infrastructure as well. I mean, so there’s a lot more infrastructure that’s got to be built to support the generation resources to meet this demand.
Travis Miller: Yeah. Sure. Okay. And then can you remind us the Alabama and Mississippi IRP schedules? And then in addition to that, would you expect some similar issues to come up as what came up in Georgia in those states? Or is there something different going on there?
Dan Tucker: Yeah. We don’t want to get too far ahead of exactly what it will look like in terms of if there’s suddenly this accelerated load. But so the next scheduled processes. We got Mississippi, we’ll launch a process and — or they launched the process in April rather they’re going through that now and Alabama will have one next spring 2025.
Travis Miller: Okay. Perfect. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Dan Tucker: You bet.
Operator: And that concludes today’s question-and-answer session. Sir, are there any closing remarks?
Chris Womack: I think it’s — let me call by saying this. Understandably, I mean, Vogtle 3 4, the journey that that we’ve been through, took a lot of attention from our stakeholders and have met fewer conversations focused on our underlying business and the success of our underlying business. The fact is all along, we continue to execute at a very high level across our portfolio and delivered strong results. Reliability and customer service were outstanding. Investments in critical financial structure we made in every jurisdiction. We successfully navigated our regulatory processes and received constructive outcomes. Now, as we look ahead in what’s next, it’s this, a continued unrelenting focus on the fundamentals with customers at the center of everything that we do.
Serving the growing load we’re experiencing is what we were built for and our model is designed to turn that growth into value for all stakeholders, customers and investors alike. That is what the employees of Southern companies do. It might sound boring to some, but it’s exciting for us. Thank you for spending time with us today. And operator, that’s the end of this call. Thank you very much.
Operator: Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the Southern Company first quarter 2024 earnings call. You may now disconnect. Thank you.
