Company: SOJE
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000092122-25-000036
Chunk: 98

Company: SOUTHERN CO
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 98
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 Board has again approved and recommended that stockholders approve the amendment to our Certificate to eliminate the last remaining supermajority voting requirement, as described in Item 4, and again engaged our proxy solicitor to assist with stockholder turnout. We believe the Company’s proposal in Item 4 and its accompanying amendment to the Certificate are drafted in a manner consistent with market practice and stockholder feedback we have received on this topic. The Board believes that the Company’s current approach to addressing this matter is appropriate and that the proponent’s year-over-year petitions for the Company to expend additional resources in an uncertain effort to solicit the additional requisite votes are not in the best interests of the Company’s stockholders.

If we receive stockholder approval of the Company’s proposal in Item 4, the Certificate amendment will be filed promptly with the State of Delaware, there will be no remaining supermajority voting standards in our governing documents, and the primary purpose of this proposal will be satisfied.

Accordingly, our own proposal in Item 4 would eliminate the only remaining supermajority voting requirement in our governing documents, rendering this proposal unnecessary.

| The Board recommends a voteAGAINSTthe proposal. |

Item 6: Disclose Assumptions Underlying Continued Reliance on Fossil Fuel-Based Energy

As You Sow, 2020 Milvia Street, Suite 500, Berkeley, California 94704, on behalf of the As You Sow Foundation Fund, holder of 562 shares of Southern Company common stock, submitted the following proposal.

WHEREAS: Southern Company, one of America's largest energy holding companies, projects a 6% annual increase in electric load between 2025 and 2028, primarily driven by manufacturing and data center expansion. 1 To meet this demand, Southern is investing in new methane gas capacity and possibly delaying retirement of its coal plants. 2 Southern posits that fossil fuels are required to meet growing demand while maintaining reliability and affordability. However, investors will benefit from access to the basic assumptions underlying this conclusion to promote confidence that the Company has fully assessed the risks and benefits of new and continued investments in fossil fuels.

Continued investments in fossil fuels are concerning to investors for three reasons:

1. Fossil fuel generation, including burning of coal, puts the company at risk of overshooting its greenhouse gas reduction targets and further exposes the company to climate-related risks. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute’s modeling, Southern is currently the U.S. power utility most misaligned with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 o C dec