Company: SOJE
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000092122-25-000018
Chunk: 734

Company: SOUTHERN CO
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 7
Chunk 734
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 resulting in alleged personal injuries. The plaintiff sought an unspecified amount of monetary damages, including punitive damages. Also in May 2023, Georgia Power removed all of these cases to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. The plaintiffs requested the court remand the cases back to the Superior Court of Monroe County, Georgia.

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    Table of Contents                                Index to Financial StatementsCOMBINED NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

On November 18, 2024, the parties reached an agreement to resolve all pending lawsuits in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia and the Superior Court of Monroe County, Georgia. On November 22, 2024, the Superior Court of Monroe County, Georgia entered an order granting Georgia Power's motions for summary judgment, finding there is no evidence that Georgia Power's operations negatively impacted drinking water wells or caused personal injury or property damage. On November 25, 2024, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed with prejudice all remaining claims in the litigation. The settlement amount did not have a material impact on Georgia Power's financial statements. These matters are now concluded.

Environmental RemediationThe Southern Company system must comply with environmental laws and regulations governing the handling and disposal of waste and releases of hazardous substances. Under these various laws and regulations, the Southern Company system could incur substantial costs to clean up affected sites. The traditional electric operating companies and the natural gas distribution utilities conduct studies to determine the extent of any required cleanup and have recognized the estimated costs to clean up known impacted sites in the financial statements. A liability for environmental remediation costs is recognized only when a loss is determined to be probable and reasonably estimable and is reduced as expenditures are incurred. The traditional electric operating companies and the natural gas distribution utilities in Illinois and Georgia have each received authority from their respective state PSCs or other applicable state regulatory agencies to recover approved environmental remediation costs through regulatory mechanisms. Any difference between the liabilities accrued and costs recovered through rates is deferred as a regulatory asset or liability. These regulatory mechanisms are adjusted annually or as necessary within limits approved by the state PSCs or other applicable state regulatory agencies.

Georgia Power has been designated or identified as a potentially responsible party at sites governed by the Georgia Hazardous Site Response Act and/or by the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, and assessment and potential cleanup of such sites is expected. For 2024, 2023, and 2022, Georgia Power recovered approximately $5 million, $5 million, and