Southern Company announced solid fourth quarter earnings of $250.9 million or 31 cents a share, compared with earnings of $185.6 million, or 24 cents a share, in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Atlanta-based Southern Company is one of the largest producers of electricity in the United States with 4.4 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity.

The economic downturn had a significant impact on overall electricity sales and usage in 2009, with industrial sales showing the largest decline - 11.8 percent year over year. In the third quarter, industrial activity in the Southeast stabilized and began showing signs of improvement.

Other challenging factors during 2009 included decreased revenues from market-response rates offered to commercial and industrial customers, and higher asset depreciation primarily associated with increased investments in environmental, transmission and distribution equipment. In addition, an increase in the number of shares outstanding and interest expense had a negative impact on earnings.

Positive earnings drivers for Southern Company in 2009 included lower non-fuel operations and maintenance expenses, increased monthly service charges, and revenues associated with the recovery of investments in environmental equipment.

"While the 2009 recession marked the greatest negative impact on energy demand in Southern Company's history, we remain focused on delivering value to our customers and shareholders," said CEO David M. Ratcliffe. "The Southeast is still an excellent place to live and do business, and we continue to aggressively pursue implementation of smarter, more efficient technologies across our business."

Southern Company also reported full-year 2009 earnings of $1.65 billion, or $2.07 a share, compared with earnings for 2008 of $1.74 billion, or $2.26 a share.