Southern Co (SOMN) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. My name is Diego, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to The Southern Company third-quarter 2025 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this conference is being recorded.

午安.我叫迭戈，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線生。此時此刻，我謹代表南方公司歡迎各位參加 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）請注意，本次會議正在錄音。

I will now turn the call over to Greg MacLeod, Director, Investor Relations. Thank you. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我將把電話轉交給投資者關係總監格雷格·麥克勞德。謝謝。請繼續，先生。

Thanks, Diego. Good afternoon, and welcome to The Southern Company's third-quarter 2025 earnings call. Joining me today are Chris Womack, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Southern Company; and David Poroch, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，迭戈。下午好，歡迎參加南方公司2025年第三季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有南方公司董事長、總裁兼執行長克里斯·沃馬克，以及財務長大衛·波羅奇。

Let me remind you that we will make forward-looking statements today in addition to providing historical information. Various important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements, including those discussed in our Form 10-K, Form 10-Qs and subsequent securities filings.

我想提醒各位，今天除了提供歷史資訊外，我們還會發表一些前瞻性聲明。各種重要因素可能導致實際結果與前瞻性聲明中指出的結果有重大差異，包括我們在 10-K 表格、10-Q 表格和後續證券文件中討論的因素。

In addition, we will present non-GAAP financial information on this call. Reconciliations to the applicable GAAP measure are included in the financial information we released this morning as well as the slides for this conference call, which are both available on our Investor Relations website at investor.southerncompany.com.

此外，我們將在本次電話會議上提供非GAAP財務資訊。與適用 GAAP 指標的調節表已包含在我們今天早上發布的財務資訊以及本次電話會議的幻燈片中，這兩份文件均可在我們的投資者關係網站 investor.southerncompany.com 上找到。

At this time, I'll turn the call over to Chris.

現在，我將把電話轉給克里斯。

Thank you, Greg, and good afternoon to everyone, and we thank you for joining us for today's update. Southern Company continues to perform exceptionally well. As you can see from the materials that we released this morning, we reported strong adjusted earnings results for the third quarter, meaningfully above the estimate provided last quarter, and we expect to deliver on our financial objectives for 2025. And I have to say Southern Company has an incredibly bright future ahead.

謝謝格雷格，大家下午好，謝謝各位收看今天的更新。南部公司業績持續表現優異。正如您從我們今天早上發布的資料中看到的那樣，我們公佈了第三季度強勁的調整後收益結果，遠高於上個季度給出的預期，我們預計將實現 2025 年的財務目標。我必須說，南方公司擁有無比光明的未來。

Our state-regulated electric and gas utilities continue to provide long-term value to the more than 9 million customers across the Southeast and beyond with reliable and affordable energy. The vertically integrated markets in which our electric utilities operate continue to provide transparent and orderly processes and have consistently supported our ability to meet the needs of our growing economies and electric demand while providing premier reliability and resilient service day in and day out.

我們受州政府監管的電力和天然氣公用事業公司繼續為東南地區及其他地區的 900 多萬客戶提供可靠且價格合理的能源，從而創造長期價值。我們的電力公司所處的垂直一體化市場繼續提供透明有序的流程，並持續支持我們滿足不斷增長的經濟和電力需求，同時日復一日地提供一流的可靠性和彈性服務。

We've done all of this while keeping customers' rates more than 10% below the national average. Further, the rate plan extension at Georgia Power, which freezes base rates until at least 2029, excluding the recovery of storm-related costs, is a testament to the benefits of a constructive regulatory framework and our focus on balancing growth and affordability.

我們在做到這一切的同時，也將客戶費率保持在全國平均以下 10% 以上。此外，喬治亞電力公司的費率計劃延期，將基本費率凍結至至少 2029 年（不包括風暴相關成本的回收），證明了建設性監管框架的好處以及我們對平衡增長和可負擔性的重視。

Customers continue to be at the center of everything we do. Our focus on the customer underpins our disciplined approach to forecasting, pricing, contracting and deploying resources to serve this once-in-a-generation growth opportunity. And we continue to execute on those plans for the benefits of all of our customers.

客戶始終是我們一切工作的核心。我們以客戶為中心，採取嚴謹的方法進行預測、定價、簽訂合約和部署資源，以掌握這一百年一遇的成長機會。我們將繼續執行這些計劃，以造福我們所有的客戶。

Over the last two months, we have four contracts with large customers across Georgia and Alabama, representing over 2 gigawatts of demand. Consistent with our approach across Southern Company, these contracts include pricing and terms that are designed to pay for the incremental cost to serve new customer demand, while also benefiting and protecting existing customers, helping to ensure growth does not come at the expense of affordability.

在過去的兩個月裡，我們與喬治亞州和阿拉巴馬州的大客戶簽訂了四份合同，代表著超過 2 吉瓦的需求。與南方公司一貫的做法一致，這些合約包含的定價和條款旨在支付滿足新客戶需求的增量成本，同時惠及和保護現有客戶，從而確保成長不會以犧牲可負擔性為代價。

I will now turn the call over to David to give an update on our financial performance.

現在我將把電話交給大衛，讓他報告我們的財務表現。

Thanks, Chris, and good afternoon, everyone. For the third quarter of 2025, our adjusted EPS was $1.60 per share, $0.10 above our estimate and $0.17 higher than the third quarter of 2024. The primary drivers for our performance for the quarter compared to last year were continued investment in our state-regulated utilities, along with strong customer growth and increased customer usage. These positive drivers were partially offset by milder than normal year-over-year weather, higher depreciation and amortization and higher interest costs.

謝謝克里斯，大家下午好。2025 年第三季度，我們調整後的每股收益為 1.60 美元，比我們的預期高出 0.10 美元，比 2024 年第三季高出 0.17 美元。本季業績較去年同期成長的主要驅動因素是對我們州監管公用事業的持續投資，以及強勁的客戶成長和客戶使用量的增加。這些正面因素被比往年溫和的天氣、更高的折舊和攤提以及更高的利息成本部分抵消。

For the nine months ended September 30, 2025, and our adjusted EPS was $3.76 compared to adjusted earnings of $3.56 for the same period in 2024. Year-to-date, revenue grew at our state-regulated electrics, partially influenced by customer growth and higher usage, which has added $0.12 year over year. A complete reconciliation of year-over-year earnings is included in the materials we released this morning.

截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日的九個月，我們調整後的每股收益為 3.76 美元，而 2024 年同期調整後的每股收益為 3.56 美元。今年迄今為止，我們州監管電力業務的收入有所增長，部分原因是客戶成長和使用量增加，年增 0.12 美元。今天早上發布的資料中包含了完整的同比收益對比表。

Our adjusted EPS estimate for the fourth quarter is $0.54 per share, which, combined with our year-to-date performance, would represent full-year adjusted earnings at the top of our 2025 annual guidance range of $4.30 per share.

我們對第四季度的調整後每股收益預期為 0.54 美元，加上我們年初至今的業績，將代表全年調整後收益達到我們 2025 年年度指導範圍 4.30 美元/股的上限。

Turning now to retail electricity sales. Year-to-date weather-normal retail electricity sales were 1.8% higher compared to the first three quarters of 2024. Year-over-year weather-normal retail electricity sales, which are on pace for the highest annual increase since 2010, excluding the pandemic, demonstrate growth across all three customer classes. In the third quarter alone, the commercial sector grew 3.5% on a weather-normal basis compared to the third quarter of 2024. This growth was driven partially by increased sales to existing and new data centers, which were up 17%.

接下來我們來談談零售電力銷售。今年迄今為止，正常天氣條件下的零售電力銷售額比 2024 年前三個季度增長了 1.8%。正常天氣下的零售電力銷售額年增幅預計將達到 2010 年以來的最高水準（不包括疫情影響），所有三個客戶類別均實現了成長。僅第三季度，商業部門在正常天氣條件下比 2024 年第三季度增長了 3.5%。這一成長部分是由現有和新建資料中心的銷售額成長所推動的，成長幅度達 17%。

Weather-normal residential sales also showed strong growth and were 2.7% higher than in the third quarter of 2024, bolstered by the addition of roughly 12,000 new electric customers in the quarter, substantially higher than historical trends.

正常天氣下的住宅銷售額也呈現強勁成長，比 2024 年第三季成長了 2.7%，這得益於該季度新增約 12,000 名電力用戶，遠高於歷史趨勢。

Electricity sales to individual customers also demonstrated continued strength, growing 1.5% in the quarter compared to the prior year. Year-to-date, all of our largest industrial customer segments are up year over year, including primary metals, paper and transportation segments, which were each up 4% or higher through the first three quarters.

個人用戶的電力銷售也持續保持強勁勢頭，本季比上年同期成長了 1.5%。今年迄今為止，我們所有最大的工業客戶群都實現了同比增長，包括初級金屬、造紙和運輸領域，這三個領域在前三個季度均實現了 4% 或更高的增長。

Economic development activity across our electric service territories remains robust with 22 companies making announcements to either establish or expand operations in our service territories during the third quarter, generating nearly 5,000 potential new jobs and representing expected capital investments totaling approximately $2.8 billion.

在我們電力服務區域內，經濟發展活動依然強勁。第三季度，共有 22 家公司宣布將在我們的服務區域內建立或擴大業務，預計將創造近 5,000 個潛在的新工作崗位，並帶來約 28 億美元的資本投資。

Clearly, between robust customer growth, increasing customer usage in the commercial and industrial segments and the flourishing economic development activity in our service territories, the economy in the Southeast remains strong and extremely well positioned.

顯然，憑藉強勁的客戶成長、商業和工業領域客戶使用量的增加以及我們服務區域內蓬勃發展的經濟發展活動，東南地區的經濟依然強勁，並處於非常有利的地位。

Transitioning to our financing, I'd like to give an update on our activities for the quarter, including the progress made addressing our future equity needs. In the third quarter, we issued $4 billion of long-term debt across Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Southern Company Gas and Southern Power. The quality and credit strength of our subsidiaries continues to draw a robust investor interest.

接下來談談我們的融資情況，我想報告本季的各項活動，包括在滿足未來股權需求方面取得的進展。第三季度，我們透過阿拉巴馬電力公司、喬治亞電力公司、南方天然氣公司和南方電力公司發行了 40 億美元的長期債務。我們子公司的品質和信用實力持續吸引投資者的濃厚興趣。

Strong demand for our subsidiary securities ultimately translates into lower interest costs, which will provide benefits to customers at our regulated subsidiaries over the long term. With these issuances, combined with what we issued in the first half of the year, we have fully satisfied our long-term debt financing needs for 2025 at each of our subsidiaries.

對我們子公司證券的強勁需求最終會轉化為更低的利息成本，這將使我們受監管子公司的客戶長期受益。加上今年上半年發行的債券，我們已完全滿足了各子公司 2025 年的長期債務融資需求。

On the equity financing front, we continue to be opportunistic in our proactive approach and have made significant progress on our plans to source equity in a disciplined and credit-supportive manner. This approach reflects our steadfast commitment to credit quality, including our strong investment-grade credit ratings across all three major rating agencies.

在股權融資方面，我們繼續採取積極主動的策略，把握機會，並在以嚴謹且符合信貸支持的方式籌集股權的計劃方面取得了重大進展。這種做法體現了我們對信用品質的堅定承諾，包括我們在三大評級機構中獲得的強勁投資等級信用評級。

We plan to continue utilizing equity or equity equivalents in support of our path towards 17% FFO to debt within our planning horizon. Recall this long-term credit quality objective is intended to provide cushion to the quantitative credit metric targets provided by the rating agencies.

我們計劃繼續利用股權或股權等價物來實現我們在規劃期間 FFO 與債務比率達到 17% 的目標。請記住，這個長期信用品質目標旨在為評級機構提供的量化信用指標目標提供緩衝。

As a reminder, on our July earnings call, we highlighted a cumulative equity need of $9 billion through 2029 to fund our $76 billion capital investment plan in a credit supportive manner. Since our last earnings call, we priced an additional $1.8 billion of equity through forward sales agreements under our at-the-market or ATM program.

提醒一下，我們在 7 月的財報電話會議上強調，到 2029 年，我們需要累積 90 億美元的股權融資，以符合信貸支持的方式為我們 760 億美元的資本投資計畫提供資金。自上次財報電話會議以來，我們透過市價發行（ATM）計畫下的遠期銷售協議，額外發行了 18 億美元的股權。

These forward equity contracts contain final settlement dates that extend through mid-2027 with the ability to call sooner if we choose. This progress and flexibility it provides significantly reduces risk in our financing plans.

這些遠期股權合約包含最終結算日期，有效期至 2027 年年中，如果我們選擇提前贖回，也可以提前贖回。這項進展及其帶來的靈活性顯著降低了我們融資計劃的風險。

When considering these ATM forward sales, other hybrid security issuances and past and projected issuances under our internal equity plans, we have solidified over $7 billion of our $9 billion equity need through 2029. We are extremely well positioned to address the remaining amounts in a shareholder-friendly manner. Looking ahead, and as we continue to take steps to require strong customer protections and credit provisions, our pipeline of large load data centers and manufacturers continues to be robust.

考慮到這些 ATM 遠期銷售、其他混合證券發行以及我們內部股權計劃下的過去和預計發行，到 2029 年，我們已經鞏固了 90 億美元股權需求中的 70 億美元以上。我們完全有能力以對股東有利的方式處理剩餘款項。展望未來，隨著我們繼續採取措施要求強有力的客戶保護和信貸條款，我們的大型負載資料中心和製造商儲備仍然強勁。

Across our electric subsidiaries, the total pipeline remains more than 50 gigawatts of potential incremental load by mid-2030s. Recall that our disciplined approach to forecasting assumes that only a fraction of this load pipeline materializes. As Chris mentioned earlier, in just the last two months, we have four contracts across Southern Company system that represent over 2 gigawatts of load.

到 2030 年代中期，我們旗下所有電力子公司仍有超過 50 吉瓦的潛在新增負載在建。請記住，我們嚴謹的預測方法假設只有一小部分負載規劃最終會實現。正如克里斯之前提到的，僅在過去兩個月裡，我們就與南方電力公司簽訂了四份合同，總負荷超過 2 吉瓦。

As you can see, projects within our pipeline are maturing into executed contracts, which, along with their associated load ramps over the next several years, solidifies a substantial portion of our total forecasted electric sales growth of 8% annually through 2029, including average annual growth at Georgia Power of 12% through the same period.

正如您所看到的，我們儲備中的項目正在逐步成熟，最終簽訂合約。這些項目以及未來幾年相關的負載增加，鞏固了我們預計到 2029 年每年 8% 的電力銷售成長目標，其中包括喬治亞電力公司同期 12% 的年平均成長率。

Across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, we now have contracts in place with large load customers, representing 7 gigawatts through 2029, which ultimately ramp to 8 gigawatts in the 2030s, and we are in advanced discussions for several more gigawatts of load.

在阿拉巴馬州、喬治亞州和密西西比州，我們現在已經與大型用電客戶簽訂了合同，到 2029 年將提供 7 吉瓦的電力，到 2030 年代最終將增加到 8 吉瓦，我們正在就另外幾個吉瓦的用電進行深入討論。

I'll now turn the call back over to Chris for further insights into the progress we are making on our plans.

現在我將把電話轉回給克里斯，讓他進一步介紹我們計劃的進展。

Thank you, David. As David noted, we have made great progress with signing new large load contracts. Just last month, as a part of Georgia Power's ongoing RFP certification proceedings, Georgia Power filed an update to its load forecast. This update forecast continues to project the capacity need consistent with the 10 gigawatts of capacity resources being requested, which include five natural gas combined cycle units and 11 battery energy storage facilities. These proceedings are scheduled to have a final determination by the commission by the end of this year.

謝謝你，大衛。正如大衛所指出的，我們在簽署新的大宗貨物運輸合約方面取得了巨大進展。就在上個月，作為喬治亞電力公司正在進行的 RFP 認證程序的一部分，喬治亞電力公司提交了其負載預測的更新版本。此次更新預測繼續預測容量需求與所要求的 10 吉瓦容量資源一致，其中包括 5 個天然氣聯合循環機組和 11 個電池儲能設施。委員會預計將於今年底前對這些程序作出最終裁決。

Separately, Alabama Power, following approvals from the Alabama Public Service Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, has completed the acquisition of the 900-megawatt Lindsay Hill natural gas generating facility to serve projected long-term capacity needs in the state.

另外，在獲得阿拉巴馬州公共服務委員會和聯邦能源監管委員會的批准後，阿拉巴馬電力公司完成了對 900 兆瓦林賽山天然氣發電廠的收購，以滿足該州預計的長期電力需求。

In addition, construction continues on approximately 2.5 gigawatts of new generation in both Georgia and Alabama, which includes three natural gas combustion turbines and seven battery storage facilities, all of which are projected to go online over the next two years.

此外，喬治亞州和阿拉巴馬州正在繼續建設約 2.5 吉瓦的新發電項目，其中包括三台天然氣燃氣渦輪機和七個電池儲能設施，所有這些項目預計將在未來兩年內投入使用。

Further, the South system for expansion at Southern Natural Gas within our Southern Company Gas subsidiary continues to move forward and will provide a valuable resource in serving the projected growth in our service territories. It is clear that we continue to make great progress executing on our plan as we deliver exceptional value to customers and investors.

此外，我們南方天然氣公司（Southern Company Gas）子公司旗下南方天然氣公司的南部擴張系統正在持續推進，並將為滿足我們服務區域內預期的成長提供寶貴的資源。很明顯，我們在執行計劃方面持續取得巨大進展，為客戶和投資者創造了卓越的價值。

Consistent with our past practice, and representative of our continued discipline, we expect to provide a complete update to our long-term plan during our fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call this coming February. As always, this update will include refreshes to our five-year capital investment outlook, sales forecast and financing plans as well as our 2026 and long-term EPS guidance.

秉承我們以往的做法，並代表我們一貫的嚴謹作風，我們預計將在今年2月舉行的2025年第四季財報電話會議上，對我們的長期計劃進行全面更新。與往常一樣，本次更新將包括我們五年資本投資展望、銷售預測和融資計劃的更新，以及我們 2026 年和長期每股收益指引。

Consistent with our comments throughout 2025, as a part of that communication, we expect to provide additional clarity on our long-term earnings trajectory, which, as we've highlighted before, could translate into increasing the base from where our long-term EPS growth starts, which could be potentially as early as 2027.

與我們在 2025 年期間的評論一致，作為溝通的一部分，我們預計將進一步闡明我們的長期盈利軌跡，正如我們之前強調的那樣，這可能會提高我們長期每股收益增長的起始基數，最早可能在 2027 年實現。

We have delivered exceptional operational and solid financial results through the first three quarters of the year. Just this week, Southern Company was named to Newsweek's World's Most Trustworthy Companies 2025 list and was the highest ranked energy company in the United States on that list.

今年前三個季度，我們取得了卓越的營運表現和穩健的財務成果。就在本週，南方公司被《新聞周刊》評為 2025 年全球最值得信賴的公司之一，並且是該榜單上排名最高的美國能源公司。

Recognized companies were identified in an independent survey, and our inclusion at the top of this list is a testament to the hard work and unwavering commitment of our employees to uphold our values and operate each day at the highest standards and integrity, transparency and accountability. We are honored by this recognition, and I am incredibly proud of our team and the execution across all of our businesses.

獲得認可的公司是透過一項獨立調查選出來的，我們能夠位列榜首，證明了我們員工的辛勤工作和堅定不移的承諾，他們始終秉持我們的價值觀，每天以最高的標準、誠信、透明和負責的態度開展業務。我們很榮幸獲得這份認可，我為我們的團隊以及我們所有業務的執行力感到無比自豪。

In conclusion, we're extraordinarily well positioned to finish the year strong. We have the team, we have the experience and the skill to capture and execute on the exciting opportunities in front of us. We really have a bright and exciting future ahead.

總之，我們已做好充分準備，以強勁的勢頭結束今年。我們擁有團隊、經驗和技能，能夠抓住並實現擺在我們面前的令人興奮的機會。我們擁有一個光明而令人興奮的未來。

Operator, we're now ready to take questions.

接線員，我們現在可以開始回答問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Carly Davenport, Goldman Sachs.

（操作說明）卡莉·達文波特，高盛。

Maybe to start just on the kind of load growth outlook in Georgia. I guess, as you continue to lock in contracts under the new tariff structure there, can you talk a little bit about the reception from customers to the new structure, and also how you approach the minimum bill components and ensure cost recovery from investments to support that load?

或許可以先從喬治亞州的負荷成長前景入手。我想，隨著你們繼續根據新的資費結構簽訂合同，您能否談談客戶對新結構的接受程度，以及你們如何處理最低賬單組成部分，並確保從支持該負荷的投資中收回成本？

Yeah, sure. Carly, thanks. Great question. Like we talked about, we've moved into a mode working underneath the -- at least the Georgia, working underneath the Georgia Public Service Commission new rules that came into place in the spring.

當然可以。卡莉，謝謝。問得好。正如我們之前討論過的，我們已經進入了在喬治亞州公共服務委員會春季生效的新規下工作的模式。

And what we're finding is customers totally get it. They understand that these are long-term commitments that we are making to deploy resources to serve their needs. And I think these rules have really helped bring the more credit quality, more serious counterparties up to the front of the line. And we've just made great strides in structuring these contracts. And with these contracts, the ones that we've signed now, have brought to the table are great protections for customers and our investors.

我們發現，顧客們完全理解這一點。他們明白，這些是我們為滿足他們的需求所做的長期承諾，我們將投入資源。我認為這些規則確實有助於將信用品質更高、更可靠的交易對手推到前面。我們在合約結構方面取得了巨大進展。而我們現在簽署的這些合同，為客戶和投資者帶來了極大的保障。

The minimum bills cover all of our costs, whether or not the meter spins. And once they hit their ramps and they start moving up, it's just very beneficial for the company and for our customers. So we're really happy with the education effort that we've been able to accomplish over the past year.

最低帳單涵蓋了我們的所有費用，無論電錶是否轉動。一旦他們走上坡路並開始向上發展，這對公司和我們的客戶都非常有利。因此，我們對過去一年在教育方面所取得的成就感到非常滿意。

And that's kind of the indicator as to why, to some extent, these contracts have taken a minute to get resolved just because we're taking them along the journey of the structure and the need to be able to protect customers going forward through these contracts.

這也在某種程度上表明，為什麼這些合約需要一些時間才能解決，因為我們正在逐步完善合約結構，並需要透過這些合約來保護客戶的未來利益。

Great. Really helpful, thank you. And then maybe the follow-up, just on the Georgia regulatory environment, just with the upcoming certifications and potential for incremental needs on the generation side for approval. How are you thinking about potential impacts from the PSC election and those processes as you think about the longer-term plan?

偉大的。非常有用，謝謝。然後，或許可以跟進一下喬治亞州的監管環境，特別是即將進行的認證以及發電方面可能出現的審批方面的增量需求。在考慮長期計劃時，您如何看待PSC選舉及其相關過程可能產生的影響？

Yeah, Carly, let's start with the election question first. Elections in Georgia for the two commission seats, they would be held next Tuesday. We've had a couple of weeks of early voting. I mean, one of the things we talk a lot about in all of our states is that we have an incredibly long history of working constructively with whomever is in those seats. And the five seats that are occupied in Georgia, they've always brought different views and perspectives.

好的，卡莉，我們先從選舉問題開始。喬治亞州將舉行兩個委員會席位的選舉，選舉將於下週二舉行。我們已經進行了兩週的提前投票。我的意思是，我們所有州經常談到的一件事是，我們與任何坐在那些位置上的人都有非常悠久的建設性合作歷史。而喬治亞的五個席位，一直以來都代表著不同的觀點和視角。

And so we expect that will, in fact, be the same. And so we'll work with whomever is there. And as those positions are filled, I mean, they keep the citizens in mind as well as we keep our customers in mind. So we have a lot of alignment there. So we've always constructively worked with whomever has been elected in those seats.

因此我們預計，實際情況也確實如此。所以我們會和那裡的任何人合作。我的意思是，在填補這些職缺時，他們會像我們一樣，時刻牢記市民的利益，就像我們會時刻牢記客戶一樣。所以我們在很多方面都意見一致。因此，我們一直與在這些席位上當選的任何人進行建設性的合作。

And Carly, you asked about status and kind of where we are. Recall that, in September, Georgia Power filed an updated load forecast and testimony, and that load forecast using the same methodologies as several months ago, discounting forecasted load and risk adjusting that, supported the need for the whole 10 gigawatts that we're requesting. And that process is ongoing.

卡莉，你問了我們現在的狀況以及大致情況。回想一下，喬治亞電力公司在 9 月提交了一份更新的負載預測和證詞，該預測採用了與幾個月前相同的方法，對預測負載進行了折扣並進行了風險調整，結果支持了我們要求的全部 10 吉瓦的必要性。這個過程仍在進行中。

So we're going to have staff and other interveners filed their testimony in the next couple of weeks, I think. And we're scheduled to get a ruling from the commission, I think it's December 19, latter part of December. But all that should be wrapped up, and we'll see the results before year-end.

所以我認為，接下來幾週內，工作人員和其他介入人員將會提交他們的證詞。委員會預計將於 12 月 19 日或 12 月下旬做出裁決。但所有這些工作都應該會得到解決，我們將在年底前看到結果。

Julien Dumoulin-Smith, Jefferies.

Julien Dumoulin-Smith，傑富瑞集團。

Chris, can we talk about the rebasing? You use the same language again about as early as '27, and a lot of folks are curious to understand what the metrics that you're looking at, whether it's operational or regulatory or just frankly, incremental signed data center deals to get you comfortable to make it more of a firmer timeline for that rebasing. Any thoughts that you'd observe here on how you're thinking about that timeline?

克里斯，我們可以談談重新定基的問題嗎？早在 2027 年，你就再次使用了同樣的措辭，很多人都好奇你正在關注哪些指標，無論是運營指標、監管指標，還是坦率地說，是新增的數據中心簽約交易，以便讓你更有把握地制定一個更明確的重新基準時間表。關於這個時間安排，有什麼想法可以分享嗎？

Julien, I mean, I think we said -- I mean, there's not kind of an exact list. There are a lot of things that we're going to look at to make that decision. How is the economy performing and what's happening with interest rates? Where are we with large load contracts?

Julien，我的意思是，我想我們說過——我的意思是，並沒有一個確切的清單。我們需要考慮很多因素才能做出決定。經濟運作狀況如何？利率走勢如何？大宗貨物運輸合約目前進度如何？

Just a number of factors, I think, that has to go into that consideration to give us the confidence and certainty to make that kind of decision. And so as we said before, clearly, there's a lot more meat on the bone in terms of where we are and how that decision needs to be made. But yes, I mean, that's something we'll work through, and we'll give you more clarity on that in our February call for next year.

我認為，有很多因素需要考慮，才能讓我們有信心和把握做出這樣的決定。所以正如我們之前所說，很明顯，就我們所處的位置以及如何做出決定而言，還有很多細節需要探討。是的，我的意思是，我們將努力解決這個問題，並在明年二月的電話會議上向您詳細說明。

Awesome. Excellent. And a little bit more of a nitpicky question. the $9 billion of equity you guys talked about here, in theory, if you were to get this incremental $5 billion, how do you think about that being reflected in that $9 billion?

驚人的。出色的。還有一個比較吹毛求疵的問題。你們剛剛提到的90億美元股權，理論上，如果能額外獲得50億美元，你們覺得這50億美元會如何反映在那90億美元呢？

The upside that we discussed in the second quarter call, Julien, you mean?

Julien，你指的是我們在第二季電話會議上討論過的利多因素嗎？

Yeah, that's all there, right, in the $9 billion?

是的，所有這些都包含在90億美元裡了，對吧？

Yeah. No. Actually, the upside to the extent that the Georgia Public Service Commission approves all of our request, we had talked about that being about another $4 billion of incremental capital. And that's likely to be financed kind of in that neighborhood of about 40% equity going forward. So once we get clarity on that, we'll be able to execute on that plan.

是的。不。事實上，如果喬治亞州公共服務委員會批准我們所有的請求，我們之前討論過，這將帶來約 40 億美元的額外資金。而未來這筆資金很可能將以約 40% 的股權比例來籌集。一旦我們弄清楚這一點，我們就能執行該計劃了。

And there's a little rounding out there, right, between the $4 billion and the $5 billion with gas, I think it is, if I understand the number?

而且，40億美元到50億美元之間似乎還有一些四捨五入的餘地，對吧？ （如果我理解正確的話）

You're exactly right, Julian. The $4 billion relates specifically to the remainder at request at the Georgia Public Service Commission. And we've talked about opportunities within our FERC regulated jurisdictions in the gas infrastructure business, and that's about $1 billion. So you're exactly on point.

朱利安，你說得完全正確。這 40 億美元專門用於支付喬治亞州公共服務委員會要求的剩餘款項。我們已經討論過在聯邦能源監管委員會監管的管轄範圍內，天然氣基礎設施業務的機會，這大約有 10 億美元。你說的完全正確。

Shar Pourreza, Wells Fargo.

Shar Pourreza，富國銀行。

Let me just shift gears to Southern Power. I mean, obviously, there is a lot of opportunities there, and you've got existing tolling agreements that start to expire. How do we think about just the assets, the value of the assets, the pricing environment? Have conversations started? And are there opportunities to renegotiate these tolls ahead of the expirations, just given the value of the assets?

讓我換個話題，聊聊南方力量吧。我的意思是，很顯然，那裡有很多機會，而且現有的收費協議也開始到期。我們如何看待資產本身、資產價值和定價環境？對話已經開始了嗎？考慮到這些資產的價值，是否有可能在到期前重新協商這些通行費？

Yeah, so like we've talked about, we've got a very large portion of these contracts under long term -- of these assets under long-term contracts, about 95% or so through 2029. And you're absolutely right. Where those opportunities exist toward the end of those contracts, we'll start having some conversations to renegotiate those and renew those where appropriate.

是的，就像我們之前討論過的，這些合約中很大一部分是長期合約——這些資產中大約 95% 的合約期限到 2029 年。你說得完全正確。如果合約接近到期時存在這樣的機會，我們將開始進行一些對話，以重新談判並酌情續約。

And when we're looking at a couple of live data points, right, in the RFP that was recently approved in Georgia, Southern Power, on a competitive bid basis, won two PPAs that go into effect in the early 2030s.

當我們查看一些即時數據點時，在最近喬治亞州批准的 RFP 中，南方電力公司透過競爭性投標贏得了兩份購電協議，這兩份協議將於 2030 年代初生效。

And those are repriced about almost 2, 3 times kind of where they sit today. So assuming that that market holds, we see great opportunity out in the future as those contracts lay off and then we can renegotiate those and recommit those assets in the future.

而這些商品的價格現在大約是目前價格的 2 到 3 倍。因此，假設市場保持穩定，我們看到未來有很大的機會，因為這些合約到期後，我們可以重新談判這些合同，並在未來重新投入這些資產。

Got it. All right. Perfect. And then just lastly, just obviously, you guys talked about the amount of gas that's needed in the Southeast. Just around the SNG pipeline expansion. Any thoughts on timing there? How are the conversations going with the counterparties? Thanks.

知道了。好的。完美的。最後，很顯然，你們談到了東南部的天然氣需求量。就在SNG管道擴建附近。關於時間安排有什麼想法嗎？與交易對手的談判進展如何？謝謝。

The SNG expansion is going well on track. I think we've talked about that being about a $3 billion investment, 100% dollars. We're a 50% owner of that. And so that project is going as scheduled, and we expect great interest in contracting that capacity. That pipe runs kind of, if you will, through our backyard, and we see that pipe being able to serve our needs as well as a number of other needs through the -- around the adjoining states. So looking forward to getting that project taken care of.

SNG擴建工程進展順利。我想我們之前討論過，那將是一筆大約 30 億美元的投資，100% 的美元。我們擁有該公司50%的股份。因此，該項目正按計劃進行，我們預計市場對該產能的需求將非常旺盛。那條管道可以說是穿過我們的後院，我們看到這條管道不僅能夠滿足我們自身的需求，還能滿足鄰近各州的許多其他需求。非常期待這個專案能盡快完成。

Okay. Perfect. And then just last, if I could just slip one quick one on the equity question. Chris, there's been obviously some pretty healthy transactions that have been done around partial asset sales. Some of your peers have done it. They have been successful. It's been accretive.

好的。完美的。最後，如果我可以快速問一個關於股權問題的問題的話。克里斯，顯然已經有一些相當健康的資產部分出售交易完成了。你的同齡人中有人已經這樣做了。他們成功了。它一直呈累積式增長。

But just want to get a sense on have you considered sort of other avenues versus these equity or equity-like instruments and even can some parts of Southern Power be opportunities there? We're just focusing on equity and equity-like?

但我想了解一下，除了股權或類似股權的工具之外，您是否考慮過其他途徑？南方電力公司的某些部分是否也可能蘊藏機會？我們只關注股權和類似股權的東西嗎？

You know, Shar, we don't comment on kind of speculative transactions or rumors or kind of these broad questions. We're always looking to see who is the best owner of a given asset. And that's something that we'll always look around corners and make those kinds of decisions. And I think it's a little bit premature.

莎爾，你知道，我們不對投機性交易、謠言或這類寬泛的問題發表評論。我們一直在尋找特定資產的最佳所有者。而這正是我們總是會考慮並做出這類決定的事情。我覺得現在下結論還太早。

But yes, I mean, that's something that we'll always give deep considerations to. We like our cards. We like the portfolio that we have. But I mean, there's some things we'll always take a look at.

是的，我的意思是，這是我們始終會認真考慮的問題。我們喜歡我們的卡片。我們很喜歡我們現有的投資組合。但我的意思是，有些事情我們始終都會注意。

Anthony Crowdell, Mizuho Securities.

Anthony Crowdell，瑞穗證券。

Two easy ones, two softballs. You talked about on the fourth-quarter call, you're going to give us a capital refresh and, I guess, potentially an update on the EPS CAGR. And I think you mentioned, I don't want to put words in your mouth, about maybe talking about the base starting in '27. My question is, will we also get 2027 guidance on the fourth-quarter call?

兩個簡單的球，兩個壘球。您在第四季電話會議上提到，您將為我們帶來資本更新，而且，我想，可能還會更新每股盈餘複合年增長率。我想你有提到過，我不想替你說話，關於可能要從 27 年開始討論基地建設的問題。我的問題是，我們會在第四季財報電話會議上得到2027年的業績指引嗎？

Anthony, we've been talking about this opportunity for a good little while. And as we've seen this kind of momentum around developing these contracts come to fruition, it is pretty unique. And those contracts that we've talked about are kind of coming into play in the latter part of our planning horizon. So we do expect to be able to share some clarity on that, like Chris talked about. Lot of things are in the mix. And as we move forward in getting these contracts taken care of, we'll be able to share what that clarity looks like in February.

安東尼，我們已經討論這個機會有一段時間了。我們看到，圍繞這些合約的製定所形成的這種勢頭最終取得了成果，這非常獨特。我們討論過的那些合同，將在我們的規劃期後期發揮作用。所以我們希望能夠就此提供一些更清晰的信息，就像克里斯所說的那樣。很多因素都交織在一起。隨著我們逐步完成這些合同，我們將在二月與大家分享最終結果。

Great. And then just last question. And I apologize I have the timing wrong. I believe from your last call to this call, I believe Moody's put the holding company on a negative outlook. Your equity needs had already announced before. Does that negative outlook or maybe change the view of maybe pulling forward or the timing of that remainder $2 billion of equity?

偉大的。最後一個問題。很抱歉，我把時間搞錯了。我認為，從您上次通話到這通通話，穆迪已經將這家控股公司的評級展望調整為負面。你們的股權需求之前已經公佈過了。這種負面預期是否會改變人們對提前或調整剩餘 20 億美元股權融資時間的看法？

Yeah, no. We've got what we believe is a really good path to get towards 17% FFO to debt. And let's remember, the fundamental belief at Southern that a premium equity starts with being a high-quality credit. And so it's important that we're going to retain these ratings that we have.

不，不是。我們相信，我們已經找到了一條非常好的途徑，可以實現 17% 的 FFO 與負債比率。我們也要記住，南方銀行的基本信念是，優質股權始於高品質的信用。因此，保持我們現有的這些評級非常重要。

And we'd look to be able to build cushion toward that 16% threshold. That's our downgrade threshold. So our path is getting closer to 17%. And we see these qualitative factors and quantitative factors improving. Executing on the equity issuances is really encouraging, bringing these contracts to fruition is encouraging.

我們希望能夠逐步累積緩衝空間，最終達到 16% 的門檻。這就是我們的降級閾值。所以我們的目標越來越接近 17%。我們看到這些定性因素和定量因素都在改善。股權發行進展順利，這些合約得以最終兌現，令人鼓舞。

And we're just going to continue to be proactive and disciplined in this approach. And we're going to continue to share our progress with the rating agencies to make sure that they're aware of where we're going towards 17% over the planning horizon.

我們將繼續採取積極主動、嚴謹自律的方式。我們將繼續與評級機構分享我們的進展，以確保他們了解我們在規劃期內實現 17% 目標的進展。

Jeremy Tonet, JPMorgan.

Jeremy Tonet，摩根大通。

Just one quick question here with regards to nuclear. I think Southern has talked in the past the importance of nuclear development for the future of the country. And we've seen support from the federal government start to move things forward in different parts of the country. Just wondering if there's any specific actions out there, support from the federal government or are there entities that would make expanding Vogtle or pursuing SMR more attractive to Southern?

關於核能，我有個問題想請教一下。我認為南方大學過去曾談到核能發展對國家未來的重要性。我們已經看到聯邦政府的支持開始推動全國各地的各項工作向前發展。我想知道聯邦政府是否有任何具體措施或支持，或者是否有任何機構能夠使沃格特勒核電廠擴建或小型模組化反應器計畫對南方電力公司更具吸引力？

First of all, let me say I was incredibly excited about the actions that the administration took with Westinghouse and Cameco and Brookfield in terms of that collaboration. I mean, I think all of those things are very important to bring forth new nuclear in this country. And with this incredibly growing demand, I think it's so important that we take the steps necessary to build new units in this country.

首先，我想說，我對政府在與西屋電氣、卡梅科電氣和布魯克菲爾德電氣的合作方面所採取的行動感到無比興奮。我的意思是，我認為所有這些因素對於在這個國家發展新的核能都非常重要。隨著需求的急劇增長，我認為我們必須採取必要措施，在這個國家建造新的住房單元。

And so between the action taken announced yesterday, a couple of days ago as well as the President's executive orders on the regulatory side, all those things, I think, are very important and very instrumental in helping support the development of new nuclear in this country. Because as you look at bringing these new units on, these units could have 60- to 80-year lives.

因此，我認為，昨天宣布的行動、幾天前宣布的行動以及總統在監管方面的行政命令，所有這些措施都非常重要，對支持美國新核能的發展起著至關重要的作用。因為當你考慮引進這些新設備時，這些設備的使用壽命可能達到 60 至 80 年。

And so that will take us in -- meet the current future demand, but also demand into the next century. So this is incredibly important to recognize the steps in the leadership role that the government must take to address risk and find ways to help mitigate that risk. So I think it's incredibly important and really excited about the steps that are being taken by this administration.

因此，這將使我們不僅滿足當前未來的需求，還能滿足下一個世紀的需求。因此，認識到政府在領導作用下必須採取哪些措施來應對風險並找到減輕風險的方法至關重要。所以我認為這非常重要，我對本屆政府正在採取的措施感到非常興奮。

Andrew Weisel, Scotiabank.

安德魯‧韋塞爾，加拿大豐業銀行。

Forgive me, I'm not sure if I heard an answer to that last question. Does all of that federal government activity changed your appetite? I appreciate the industry commentary, but what about your appetite?

請原諒，我不確定我是否聽到了最後一個問題的答案。聯邦政府的這些活動是否改變了你的食慾？我很欣賞業內人士的評論，但是你們的胃口如何呢？

No, not at this time.

不，目前還沒有這個打算。

Okay, thank you for clarifying, but that wasn't my original question. My original question was on slide 9, I'm interested, so you showed the demand from large load customers for 2029, and then the mid 30s. What strikes me is it's a fairly small change, only 1 incremental gigawatt is contracted and 1 additional gigawatt of committed. How much of that would you say is the same projects ramping up their demand versus an incremental project or projects coming online between those years?

好的，謝謝你的解釋，但這不是我最初的問題。我最初的問題在第 9 張投影片上，我很感興趣，所以您展示了 2029 年大客戶的需求，以及 2030 年代中期的需求。令我驚訝的是，這是一個相當小的變化，只增加了 1 吉瓦的合約和 1 吉瓦的額外承諾。您認為其中有多少是現有專案需求增加所致，又有多少是這些年間新增專案或新上線專案所致？

And then to what degree would you say the small increase is conservatism or risk adjusting or however you want to call it? It just seems like a fairly small delta relative to the trends in commentary.

那麼，您認為這種小幅成長在多大程度上是出於保守考慮、風險調整或其他任何您想稱呼它的原因呢？相對於評論界的趨勢而言，這似乎只是一個相當小的幅度。

No, I get where you're coming from. What we wanted to try to display in this chart, so I appreciate your question, is that the entire 7 gigs on the 2029 column is included in the 2030 column. And so what we're trying to reflect there is ramp-up, timing, and our expectations and projections based on the contracts that we have as well as in the committed section, that's reflective of the conversations that we've been having and the modeling that we've been doing through the negotiations.

不，我明白你的意思。我們想在這個圖表中展示的是，2029 列中的全部 7 GB 數據都包含在 2030 列中，所以我很感謝你的提問。因此，我們試圖反映的是產能提升、時間安排，以及我們基於現有合約和已承諾部分的預期和預測，這反映了我們一直在進行的對話以及我們在談判過程中所做的建模。

And so those ramp-ups do take a minute and those are projected to kind of be over about a five-year period. It's a little different from contract to contract because, obviously, these are tailor-made contracts, bilateral negotiations, not necessarily at all a unique large load tariff. And so these are tailor-made and reflect our expectations around the ramp up.

因此，這些成長過程確實需要一段時間，預計大約需要五年時間。每個合約的情況略有不同，因為很明顯，這些都是量身定制的合同，是雙邊談判的結果，並不一定是統一的大宗貨物運輸費率。因此，這些都是量身定制的，反映了我們對產能提升的預期。

David Arcaro, Morgan Stanley.

大衛‧阿卡羅，摩根士丹利。

So looking at the 10-gigawatt large load contracted or committed numbers by 2029, I guess I was just wondering if there's still a further opportunity to add on more gigawatts there to bring on more large load by the 2029-time frame? Or are you seeing system constraints or limits in terms of absorbing additional data centers in the near term?

因此，考慮到 2029 年已簽約或承諾的 10 吉瓦大負荷項目數量，我只是想知道到 2029 年是否還有機會增加更多吉瓦的裝機容量，從而帶來更多的大負荷？或者，您是否看到在短期內吸收更多資料中心方面存在系統限製或不足？

I think the ability to bring on more is out there. I mean, so the answer to your question is, yes, there's more capacity, more opportunity. And yes, we are in advanced discussions, in advanced considerations with other large load companies in terms of looking at more possibilities. So yeah, there are more upside opportunities for the latter part of this decade.

我認為我們有能力招到更多人。我的意思是，所以你問題的答案是，是的，產能更大，機會更多了。是的，我們正在與其他大型貨運公司進行深入的討論和考慮，以探索更多可能性。所以，是的，這十年後半段還有更多上漲的機會。

Yeah, okay. Got it. And then I was just wondering if you could -- could you characterize just maybe the plan for the next set of RFPs? Just looking forward for future generation needs, what years would those be representing in terms of when they come into service? And then when would you be potentially considering bringing forth those RFPs to take in the bids?

好的。知道了。然後，我想問您是否可以——您能否簡要介紹下一批 RFP 的計劃？展望未來世代的需求，這些設備大概會在哪些年份投入使用？那麼，您大概會在什麼時間考慮發布招標公告（RFP）來接受投標呢？

Sure. So remember, that '25 IRP stipulation allowed for another all-source RFP to begin as early as 2026. And at the moment, we don't really have any size or parameters. We're just working through that and assessing our needs. We need to get through the processes in place at the moment, and then we'll look to the future.

當然。所以請記住，2025 年 IRP 條款允許最早在 2026 年開始另一次全來源 RFP。目前，我們還沒有任何規模或參數。我們正在研究這個問題並評估我們的需求。我們需要先完成目前的各項流程，然後再展望未來。

And that could be in the early 2030s, maybe 2032-ish, but we'll have to wait and see how that plays out, and we'll have more clarity next year, but we're really encouraged by the conversations that we've been having, and the momentum continues to build, not just in Georgia, but around the service territories.

這可能要等到 2030 年代初期，或許 2032 年左右，但我們還得拭目以待，看看情況如何發展，明年我們會更清楚一些，但我們一直進行的對話真的令人鼓舞，而且勢頭還在不斷增強，不僅在佐治亞州，而且在服務區域內也是如此。

Angie Storozynski, Seaport.

安吉·斯托羅津斯基，海港。

Okay. So my first question about contract-based gas fired new build. So in the past, you guys were saying that you're still waiting to see demand or interest in fully loaded economics for gas-fired new build for Southern Power. And I'm wondering if we've already achieved that point? Or is it still a waiting period?

好的。所以我的第一個問題是關於基於合約的燃氣新建專案。所以，你們之前說過，你們仍在等待看到南方電力公司新建燃氣發電廠全面投入營運的經濟效益需求或興趣。我想知道我們是否已經達到那個目標了？或仍需要等待一段時間？

For recontracting at Southern Power? I just want to make sure I understand.

是否考慮與南部電力公司續約？我只是想確認我理解了。

No, so like building a brand-new combined cycles for a hyperscaler or whoever under a long-term contract by Southern Power meeting your return expectations? If you've already seen offers at levels that you would consider interesting?

不，就像南方電力公司根據長期合約為超大規模運營商或其他任何客戶建造全新的聯合循環機組，以滿足您的回報預期一樣？如果你已經看到一些你有興趣的薪資待遇？

Yeah, we continue to evaluate. And recall, I think we talked about it probably several times in the past, that Southern Power, we run with a pretty high filter. We have high credit quality counterparties long term in nature, locking up the capacity, no fuel risk. So as we find those opportunities that fit into that box, we'll definitely pursue them. And at the moment, we're just still evaluating.

是的，我們會繼續評估。回想一下，我想我們過去可能已經討論過好幾次了，南方電力公司採用的過濾標準非常高。我們擁有信用品質高、長期穩定的交易對手，鎖定產能，沒有燃料風險。所以，一旦發現符合這個條件的機會，我們一定會抓住它們。目前，我們還在評估階段。

So the answer is no, you haven't seen them? Or you're still sort of debating if the terms are attractive?

所以答案是：不，你沒看過它們？還是你還在猶豫這些條款是否吸引人？

Yeah, we're evaluating and having some conversations around that.

是的，我們正在評估並就此進行一些討論。

Okay. And then second thing, and I know you have answered this question a couple of times already on this call about the nuclear new build. And we keep hearing, especially from Westinghouse, right, that they are seeing interest in nuclear new build from large, regulated utility operators in the US, and I know that it could be just preliminary discussions. But I mean, the Southeast seems to come up quite a bit.

好的。其次，我知道您在這通通話中已經回答過幾次關於新建核電廠的問題了。我們不斷聽到，特別是來自西屋公司的消息，他們表示美國大型受監管的公用事業運營商對新建核電站表現出興趣，我知道這可能只是初步討論。但我的意思是，東南部地區似乎經常被提及。

I mean, I'm looking at the map, there are a few options here. So I'm just wondering, is it just, as I said, preliminary discussions? Or is it -- you wouldn't be the first one, seemingly given what's happening in South Carolina. But how should we brace for any potential announcements from you?

我的意思是，我看著地圖，這裡有一些選擇。所以我想知道，這是否只是像我剛才說的那樣，初步討論？或者說——鑑於南卡羅來納州正在發生的事情，你似乎不是第一個這麼想的人。但我們該如何準備應對您可能發布的任何聲明呢？

Yeah. I mean, I can't speak for others, but I'll speak for Southern Company. We are not there yet to make an announcement about a new nuclear plant. As we said many times in the past, we want to make sure that all risks are mitigated before we make that kind of decision. I'm excited about all the activity that's occurring around the country with considerations about new nuclear.

是的。我的意思是，我不能代表其他人發言，但我可以代表南方公司發言。目前我們還不能宣佈新建核電廠的消息。正如我們過去多次說過的那樣，我們希望在做出這類決定之前，確保所有風險都得到緩解。我對全國各地正在進行的有關新建核能的各項活動感到興奮。

But until we find a way to get all the risk mitigated, I mean, that's not a decision that we're going to make, but we're going to continue to work with the administration, work with other government agencies to talk about the importance and the role that new nuclear can play in being this growing demand. But being perfectly clear, no, we're not in a position to make that decision at this point until we find ways to make sure all risks are mitigated.

但是，在我們找到降低所有風險的方法之前，我的意思是，這不是我們會做出的決定，但我們將繼續與政府和其他政府機構合作，討論新的核能對於滿足不斷增長的需求的重要性和作用。但必須明確一點，不，在我們找到確保所有風險都得到緩解的方法之前，我們目前還無法做出這個決定。

Paul Fremont, Ladenburg Thalmann.

保羅‧弗里蒙特，拉登堡‧塔爾曼。

First question is, I just want to understand the difference between contracted and committed. Is that just an ESA versus an LOA, or what's the distinction there?

我的第一個問題是，我只想了解「已簽訂合約」和「已承諾」之間的差異。這只是就業支援協議 (ESA) 與授權令 (LOA) 的區別嗎？還是說它們之間還有什麼差別？

Sure. So let's maybe start with the contract. I mean, that's a signed agreement, hopefully pretty relatively self-explanatory. We've got a commitment to deliver based on the terms and conditions negotiated and parties have signed off and we're moving forward. The RFS, request for service, that's going through the process that we've described in the past, where you kind of start with an entity looking across the states, maybe they've selected Georgia.

當然。那麼，我們不妨先從合約開始吧。我的意思是，這是一份簽署過的協議，希望內容已經相當清楚明了。我們承諾按照協商好的條款和條件履行義務，各方已經簽署確認，我們正在推進此事。RFS（服務請求）正在經歷我們過去所描述的過程，首先是一個實體在各州之間進行考察，也許他們選擇了喬治亞州。

We start having conversations with them. We start getting through -- they're going to -- within the state of Georgia, as an example, they're going to pick Georgia Power versus other providers. That takes us to a new level of conversation. More collateral is posted. The process gets more involved. Engineering studies are happening.

我們開始和他們交談。我們開始著手——他們會——以喬治亞州為例，他們會選擇喬治亞電力公司而不是其他供應商。這讓我們把對話帶入了一個新的層次。已追加抵押品。這個過程變得更加複雜。工程學研究正在進行中。

And so the commitment then is as we're negotiating terms and conditions, pricing, ramp-ups and other needs, that's kind of like your last phase before you're getting into actually signing a contract. So committed is very far down the road, and we're working through Ts and Cs, finalizing engineering studies and on the verge of signing contracts.

因此，在協商條款和條件、定價、進度安排和其他需求時，這就像是在正式簽署合約之前的最後一個階段。因此，目前距離正式簽約還有很長的路要走，我們正在敲定條款和條件，完成工程研究，即將簽署合約。

Okay. So that's sort of like finalizing agreements. Would you be able to characterize then how many gigawatts would be in advanced stage negotiations? I think some of your peers provide that third layer of breakout.

好的。這有點像是敲定協議。那麼，您能否具體說明一下，在談判後期階段，電力規模將達到多少吉瓦？我認為你們的一些同儕提供了突破的第三層力量。

Yeah. So in that bucket, we're probably in the neighborhood 12-ish gigs. I mean, it's fairly dynamic and it's across the system.

是的。所以在這個範圍內，我們大概有 12 吉布斯左右。我的意思是，它相當動態，而且遍及整個系統。

Right. And then sort of last question for me. You are targeting or you're guiding to 8% sales growth. What year would you expect to sort of achieve that level of sales growth?

正確的。最後一個問題。你的目標是實現 8% 的銷售成長。您預計哪一年能夠達到類似的銷售成長水準？

That's in the latter part of the horizon. I think we've talked about 2029 is the target for that. And we grow into that over time.

那是在地平線的後半部。我認為我們已經討論過，2029年是實現這一目標的年份。隨著時間的推移，我們會逐漸變成那樣。

Travis Miller, Morningstar.

崔維斯米勒，晨星公司。

So keeping with the large load popular topic here. If I run through those numbers that you broke out in terms of projects and gigawatts, it looks like average project is somewhere less than 0.5 gigawatt, maybe 300 to 500 megawatts.

所以，讓我們繼續討論大負荷這個熱門話題。如果我仔細分析你按專案和吉瓦數劃分的那些數字，看起來平均每個專案的裝置容量不到 0.5 吉瓦，可能在 300 到 500 兆瓦之間。

One, I was wondering if that's kind of a fair assessment of what you're seeing out there. And then, two, what is the extra 50 gigawatts or the next stage look like? We've heard some utilities talking about gigawatt projects, tech companies talking about multiple gigawatt projects. So I wonder if you could characterize the current customers and then the next step?

第一，我想知道這是否是對你所看到的情況的一種比較公正的評價。其次，額外的 50 吉瓦或下一階段是什麼樣的？我們聽說一些公用事業公司在談論千兆瓦項目，一些科技公司也在談論多個千兆瓦項目。所以我想知道您能否描述一下現有客戶的特點，以及下一步計畫？

Okay, thank you. So yeah, I wouldn't do just the straight math. I mean, these are wide ranging. We've got some on the 100 megawatts of the scale and then we've got a couple at the north of 1 gigawatt. And so they are really all over the place. And like we've talked about, I mean, each one of these are tailor-made contracts for their own specific needs. So I'd suggest resisting the simple math.

好的，謝謝。所以，我不會只做簡單的數學計算。我的意思是，這些範圍很廣。我們有一些專案規模在 100 兆瓦左右，還有幾個專案規模超過 1 吉瓦。所以它們真的到處都是。正如我們之前討論過的，我的意思是，每一份合約都是根據他們各自的具體需求量身定制的。所以我建議不要使用簡單的數學方法。

Okay. That's helpful there. And then the 50 gigawatts or the next stage, 40 or so gigawatts incremental? Or what are you seeing from those coming into the system requesting --

好的。那很有幫助。然後是50吉瓦，還是下一階段，逐步增加40吉瓦左右？或者，您從進入系統提出申請的人那裡看到了什麼？--

Yeah, like the whole pipeline. As we've talked about, those are in various stages. And as we build our forecast, we pretty heavily discount all of that through the various layers, if you will, of the contracting process. So yeah, 50 gigawatts -- north of 50 gigawatts is the universe in which we're evaluating right now. And we have talked about a small portion of that coming to fruition as a contract.

對，就像整個流程一樣。正如我們之前討論過的，這些都處於不同的階段。在進行預測時，我們會透過合約流程的各個環節，對所有這些因素進行相當大的折扣。所以，沒錯，50 吉瓦——超過 50 吉瓦就是我們目前正在評估的範圍。我們已經討論過其中一小部分最終會以合約的形式落實。

Okay. But still the same kind of range in terms of actual project, 100 megawatts to north of 1 gigawatt?

好的。但就實際專案而言，規模仍然大致相同，從 100 兆瓦到 1 吉瓦以上？

Yeah, exactly.

對，沒錯。

Okay. And then did they tend to be greenfield or brownfield? Are they expansions, whether it's manufacturing or data center or the expansion projects, or greenfield projects typically?

好的。那麼，這些項目通常是新建案還是改建工程呢？這些是擴建工程（無論是製造業、資料中心或其他擴建工程），還是新建案？

Both. Yeah, it's really all over the place. I mean, we've got industrial customers making announcements that they're expanding their capacity here in our service territories. We've got new businesses relocating or starting up and then the data centers. Some are expanding.

兩個都。是啊，真是五花八門。我的意思是，我們已經有工業客戶宣布，他們正在擴大在我們服務區域的產能。我們有新企業搬遷或成立，還有資料中心。有些正在擴張。

I think we mentioned in our prepared comments that the portfolio of data centers that we're serving today have grown at 17% year over year in the quarter. So really excited about what we're seeing in both the portfolio that we're serving today and the process of contracting and the diversity that those customers are bringing to the system.

我想我們在事先準備好的評論中提到過，我們目前服務的資料中心組合在本季度同比增長了 17%。我們對目前所服務的客戶組合、合約簽訂過程以及這些客戶為系統帶來的多樣性感到非常興奮。

And that will conclude today's question-and-answer session. Sir, are there any closing remarks?

今天的問答環節到此結束。先生，還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Again, let me thank everybody for joining us today on our call. And as we said before, we have a bright future, and we're looking forward to what's ahead. So thank you very much and have a great day.

再次感謝各位今天參加我們的電話會議。正如我們之前所說，我們擁有光明的未來，我們期待未來的發展。非常感謝，祝您今天過得愉快。

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the Southern Company third-quarter 2025 earnings call. You may now disconnect.

謝謝您，先生。女士們、先生們，南方公司 2025 年第三季財報電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線了。