Southern Company to help develop carbon-free power for federal facilities

The Biden administration has signed a memorandum of understanding with Southern Company to develop carbon emissions-free electricity to federal facilities in Southern's Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi utility areas, of which the US Army is Southern's largest federal customer.

Southern's load for 22 US Department of Defense facilities totals 408 MW, Southern Company spokesman Michael Quirk said Oct. 25.

To provide context, Southern Company's balancing authority load peaked at 25.4 GW around 7 pm ET on Oct. 23, when the region's nuclear fleet was producing about 6.2 GW and hydroelectric dams were producing 1.9 GW, according to US Energy Information Administration data.

To be clear, a balancing authority maintains a safe, reliable balance between supply and demand in a specific area, and Southern's balancing authority includes several other utilities.

Southern's Georgia Power unit in July started commercial operations at the 1.1-GW Plant Vogtle Unit 3 nuclear generator, and its Unit 4 is slated to start up in late 2023 or early 2024. Georgia power owns 45.7% of this units capacity, followed by Oglethorpe Power's 30%, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia's 22.7% and Dalton Utilities' 1.6%.

Georgia Power has a 50.1% interest in the 1.8-GW Edwin Hatch nuclear power plant, and Southern's Alabama Power utility owns the 1.8-GW Joseph Farley nuclear power plant.

Changing capacity mix

Southern's 2022 annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission showed 35.5 GW of operational generation nameplate capacity in the Southeast, excluding the new Vogtle nuclear units. Those totals include the following:

• Natural gas: 19.1 GW
• Coal: 8.5 GW
• Nuclear: 3.7 GW
• Hydro: 2.8 GW
• Solar: 784 MW
• Cogeneration: 612 MW

Southern has set a goal of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, and the Biden administration has established a path to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity for federal facilities by 2030.

Rachel Jacobson, assistant secretary of the US Army for installations, energy and environment, raised the possibility of behind-the-meter resources.

"Distributed carbon-free energy generation -- when integrated into a modernized grid that includes large-scale storage, upgraded transmission lines, and enhanced cybersecurity controls -- is the best way to promote resilience so we can continue to deploy, fight, and win the nation's wars," Jacobson said in a news release.

Asked how Southern planned to approach supplying zero-emissions power to federal facilities in its footprint, Quirk said, "The process is still in the preliminary stages."

"The purpose of the MOU is to work with our federal partners over the next seven months to create a plan that will further identify the US government requirements across our service territory," Quirk said. "Southern Company is prepared to consider any technology preferences that the US government is seeking that will meet both their technical and pricing requirements."