Meeting the Challenge
The demand for electricity is always growing (about two percent each year in the Southeast). Southern Company's challenge is to meet this demand while keeping to a minimum the impact on our planet.
We use our Environmental Management System — formalized in the 1990s with elements from management programs developed by national and international regulatory and standard making organizations — to stay in compliance with regulations and direct voluntary environmental efforts.
Annually, we develop a compliance strategy and budget based on emerging laws and rules, fuel prices and availability, unit characteristics, control costs, and financial impacts. These principles shape our environmental strategy:
Management and Employee Commitment - We take responsibility for implementing our environmental policy and committing the resources to make it happen.
Compliance - We meet or surpass all environmental laws and regulations. We conduct all of our operations in an environmentally sound and responsible manner.
Continuous Improvement - We monitor and assess the environmental impact of our operations, using the results to improve our efforts. We continually seek opportunities to prevent pollution and conserve natural resources in balance with maintaining reliability and low-cost service to our customers.
Research and Innovation - We invest in research and innovative technologies to provide cleaner energy options for our customers. That commitment extends to providing customers with renewable energy choices and pursuing alternative generation options.
Stewardship - We demonstrate our commitment to the communities we serve and the environment through education, partnerships, and projects that result in conservation, preservation, and increased environmental awareness.
Public Policy - We work with government agencies, non-government organizations, scientists, policy leaders, and other interested stakeholders to ensure environmental laws and regulations are based on sound scientific information and meet environmental, economic, and social objectives. We seek to balance economic, energy supply, reliability, and environmental needs and factor in the time needed to develop and implement solutions.
Accountability - We integrate our environmental policy into our business operations by establishing goals and measuring our performance against goals. These results will be reported to our environmental executive committee and board of directors.
Transparency - We publicly communicate our environmental goals and performance. We foster open, effective dialogue with stakeholders to build collaborative partnerships.
