Southern Company CEO Chris Womack on AI, power demand and affordability

Southern Company CEO Chris Womack on AI, power demand and affordability

From Energy Evolution by S&P Global Commodity Insights

April 28, 2026 · 23 min

About this episode

Chris Womack discusses the challenges facing the US power industry, including affordability and rising power demand driven by AI.

Chris Womack is chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company, one of the largest investor-owned, regulated utility holding companies in the US. Its electric and gas subsidiaries serve more than 9 million customers in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi and Tennessee. In this episode, co-host Dan Testa sits down with Womack to discuss the many issues facing the US power industry, including how utility capital spending impacts affordability, federal loan guarantees, coal-fired power plant extensions, as well as rising power demand forecasts driven by data centers and AI.

People in this episode

Host: Dan Testa

Guest: Chris Womack

Topics covered

  • AI
  • power demand
  • affordability
  • utility capital spending
  • coal-fired power plants
  • data centers

Keywords

  • Southern Company
  • Chris Womack
  • power industry
  • affordability
  • AI
  • utility spending
  • coal-fired power

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Southern Company, S&P Global Commodity Insights

Places: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee

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