On May 21, Southern Company, the utility holding company based in Atlanta, with core electric utility franchise areas in Georgia and Alabama, announced a multi-billion dollar asset sale with proceeds designated to pay down debt. The buyer is NextEra Energy, located in neighboring Florida. In the deal, Southern will sell its Florida utility subsidiary, Gulf Power, plus gas utility and power plant assets also located in Florida. With almost $100 billion in assets, NextEra Energy, bills itself as the world’s largest utility company. (Large Chinese power companies might quibble about this claim.) NextEra’s investments include the electric utility Florida Power & Light (FPL), solar and wind power generating facilities across the country and a fleet of nuclear generating stations. NextEra has been on a relentless search for additional non-fossil power generation assets and regulated distribution utilities to add to its already considerable holdings. Southern’s Gulf Power service area is […]