Company: SOJE
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000092122-25-000036
Chunk: 36

Company: SOUTHERN CO
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 36
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holders representing approximately 20% of our outstanding shares. |

Stockholder feedback is communicated to our Board and its committees throughout the year.

In addition, our CFO and investor relations group lead our management team in hundreds of investor meetings throughout the year to discuss our business, strategy and financial results. These discussions also include governance and sustainability-related topics. Meetings include in-person, telephone and webcast conferences.

#### Environmental Stakeholder Engagement
Since 2011, we have held regular environmental stakeholder forums, webinars, calls and meetings covering a range of topics, including our efforts to reduce GHG emissions, regulatory and policy issues, system opportunities and risks related to renewables, system opportunities and risks related to increased projected load growth, energy efficiency and community impacts. Members of senior management participate in these events.

| In early May 2024, we hosted an in-person environmental stakeholder forum in Washington D.C. Chris Womack, our CEO, led discussions with stakeholders. Other senior leaders who participated included the Chief Legal Officer, COO, President of External Affairs, SVP of Research, Environment and Sustainability and VP of System Planning. Key topics discussed included our net zero by 2050 goal, decarbonization efforts, R&D, enhancing affordability and resilience. Twenty stakeholders participated in the forum. Stakeholder participants include regional environmental and socially focused non-governmental organizations, stockholder advocacy groups and state pension funds. We also invited the co-lead investors of our Climate Action 100+ investor engagement team to participate. |

In October 2024, we hosted a virtual stakeholder dialogue centered around grid planning to provide stakeholders an overview of our system planning and grid planning processes including ways to engage in those processes. Speakers included leaders from our system planning and transmission planning organizations. Over 20 stakeholders participated in this event. In October 2024, we also held an open house at our Washington D.C. office for local stakeholders to connect in person with our CEO, Chief Legal Officer, COO, President of External Affairs, SVP of Research, Environment and Sustainability and VP of System Planning.

We had several follow-up conversations with stakeholder participants to further discuss topics raised at these meetings.

#### Southern Company2025 Proxy Statement37

#### Governance

#### Director Compensation
Only non-employee Directors of the Company are compensated for service on the Board.

For 2024, the pay components for non-employee Directors were:

| Annual cash retainers                                                                                              |     |         |
| Cash retainer                                                                                                      |     | 120,000 |