Southern Company's Georgia Power Prepares for a Storm-Heavy 2025

The Southern Company’s SO subsidiary, Georgia Power, is doubling down on efforts to maintain safe and reliable electricity service ahead of the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season amid the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) forecast of above-average storm activity. The utility company has significantly enhanced its storm response capabilities, including investments in smart grid technologies and infrastructure upgrades designed to limit the impact of outages and speed up recovery.

Self-healing technology now embedded across the state’s power grid allows crews to reroute power and segment a power line, which isolates issues, minimizing the number of affected customers and restoring power faster. This approach proved invaluable during 2024’s Hurricane Helene, the most destructive in Georgia Power’s history, where it played a key role in accelerating power restoration.

Safety and Proactive Measures for Storm Season

Georgia Power is urging all customers to take proactive safety measures this season. From avoiding downed power lines to using generators properly, the company emphasizes that preparation can save lives. To stay informed during emergencies, customers are encouraged to use Georgia Power’s digital tools:

• Outage Alerts: Free text notifications with personalized updates
• Outage & Storm Center: A 24/7 resource for reporting and tracking outages
• Outage Map: Real-time statewide view of current outages
• Mobile App & Social Media: On-the-go access to safety tips, updates and support

The utility also reminds drivers to follow Georgia's Move Over Law, giving space to utility crews working roadside during or after storms.

Recognition for Hurricane Helene Response

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which left over a million Georgians without power, Georgia Power was honored with the Edison Electric Institute’s Emergency Recovery Award. The recognition highlights the extraordinary work of thousands of line workers and support staff who helped rebuild critical parts of the grid, replacing over 11,000 power poles, repairing 1,000 miles of wire and removing more than 3,000 damaged trees.

The company informs that as storm threats loom in 2025, Georgia Power stands ready to respond with resilience and innovation.

SO’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

The Southern Company deals with the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and serves approximately nine million customers through its seven electric and natural gas distribution units. Currently, SO has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors interested in the utility sector might look at some better-ranked stocks like EDP, S.A. EDPFY, Engie SA ENGIY and CenterPoint Energy, Inc. CNP. While EDP and Engie currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each, CenterPoint Energy carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

EDP ranks among Europe's major electricity operators, as well as being one of Portugal's largest business groups.

EngieSA engages in the power, natural gas and energy services businesses. It operates through Renewables, Networks, Energy Solutions, FlexGen, Retail, Nuclear and Others segments. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ENGIY's 2025 earnings indicates 19.55% year-over-year growth.

Houston, TX-based CenterPoint Energy is a domestic energy delivery company that provides electric transmission and distribution, power generation, and natural gas distribution operations. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CNP's 2025 earnings indicates 8.02% year-over-year growth.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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