Southern Company sustainability score: 25/100
Better than 0% of Energy Supply / Utilities
Below expectations starts at 31. The highest score on SINK is 71.
Southern Company is a major US electric utility and energy supplier headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, serving millions of customers across the Southeast. The company operates coal, natural gas, nuclear, and renewable generation assets alongside gas distribution and competitive energy businesses.
More about Southern Company
It is one of the largest utilities by market capitalization in North America.
Founded 1945Head office Atlanta, Georgia, USStaff ~31,300Revenue ~$26.7BWebsite ↗
Southern Company operates a fossil-fuel dependent grid with 79 million tonnes of annual Scope 1 emissions. It systematically obstructed US climate policy, funded climate denial, and maintains trade association memberships opposing regulation. Targets are unvalidated and misaligned with 1.5°C science; Scope 3 lacks any reduction commitment.
Southern Company scores 25/100 (Significant gaps) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified May 2026.
That places Southern Company joint 871st of 1,023 companies scored, and joint 20th of 21 in Energy Supply / Utilities.
What is Southern Company doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Water Impact (7/10, 5/10). Weakest on Controversies & Red Flags and Nature & Biodiversity Impact (0/10, 2/10).
Where Southern Company lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Its record on controversiesDeal with the findings under question 10, in public.
- Its effect on natureAssess its effect on nature and publish a basic environmental policy.
- Its climate targetsSet specific targets with dates.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations7/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain4/10Most of its supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions aren't measured.
- Whether its emissions are falling4/10No evidence of a year-on-year fall in its total emissions.
- How clean its energy is3/10No renewable energy tariff or major efficiency investment shown.
- Its effect on nature2/10No assessment of its effect on nature, and no basic environmental policy.
- How it uses materials and handles waste3/10No active waste reduction, reuse or repair shown.
- Its effect on water5/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets2/10No specific targets with dates.
- How openly it reports5/10No dedicated sustainability role, board oversight or public report.
- Its record on controversies0/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Southern Company's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Southern Company's score based on?
11 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
45% of them were published by Southern Company itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Scored on 4 April 2026 under an earlier version of our method. We're re-checking it under the current method.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Southern Company compare with other energy supply / utilities companies?
Southern Company is tied at the bottom of the energy supply / utilities pack.
Among the 21 major energy supply / utilities brands we've scored, Southern Company is tied =20th of 21, with 1 other.
Who scores higher in Energy Supply / Utilities?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Southern Company.
Scored as the Eesti Energia GROUP — the oil-shale electricity generation and shale-oil business (Enefit Power) consolidated with the renewables subsidiary (Enefit Green), not Enefit Green alone (which would score far higher in isolation).
See the breakdown →British Gas operates as a major energy supplier with significant fossil fuel assets through parent company Centrica.
See the breakdown →NextEra Energy is the world's largest renewable generator but operates as a fossil-fuel utility with no climate targets after abandoning its 2045 goal in 2025.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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