Consolidated Statements of Income (USD $) Share data in Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Operating Revenues:
Retail revenues	$ 15,071,000,000	$ 14,791,000,000	$ 13,307,000,000
Wholesale revenues	1,905,000,000	1,994,000,000	1,802,000,000
Other electric revenues	611,000,000	589,000,000	533,000,000
Other revenues	70,000,000	82,000,000	101,000,000
Total operating revenues	17,657,000,000	17,456,000,000	15,743,000,000
Operating Expenses:
Fuel	6,262,000,000	6,699,000,000	5,952,000,000
Purchased power	608,000,000	563,000,000	474,000,000
Other operations and maintenance	3,938,000,000	4,010,000,000	3,526,000,000
Charge recorded from the MC Asset recovery litigation settlement			202,000,000
Depreciation and amortization	1,717,000,000	1,513,000,000	1,503,000,000
Taxes other than income taxes	901,000,000	869,000,000	818,000,000
Total operating expenses	13,426,000,000	13,654,000,000	12,475,000,000
Operating Income	4,231,000,000	3,802,000,000	3,268,000,000
Other Income and (Expense):
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	153,000,000	194,000,000	200,000,000
Interest income	21,000,000	24,000,000	23,000,000
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized	(857,000,000)	(895,000,000)	(905,000,000)
Other income (expense), net	(40,000,000)	(35,000,000)	41,000,000
Total other income and (expense)	(744,000,000)	(736,000,000)	(664,000,000)
Earnings Before Income Taxes	3,487,000,000	3,066,000,000	2,604,000,000
Income taxes	1,219,000,000	1,026,000,000	896,000,000
Consolidated Net Income	2,268,000,000	2,040,000,000	1,708,000,000
Dividends on Preferred and Preference Stock of Subsidiaries	65,000,000	65,000,000	65,000,000
Consolidated Net Income After Dividends on Preferred and Preference Stock of Subsidiaries	2,203,000,000	1,975,000,000	1,643,000,000
Earnings per share (EPS) -
Basic EPS	$ 2.57	$ 2.37	$ 2.07
Diluted EPS	$ 2.55	$ 2.36	$ 2.06
Average number of shares of common stock outstanding (in millions)
Basic	857	832	795
Diluted	864	837	796
Cash dividends paid per share of common stock	$ 1.8725	$ 1.8025	$ 1.7325
Alabama Power [Member]
Operating Revenues:
Retail revenues	4,972,000,000	5,076,000,000	4,497,000,000
Wholesale revenues, non-affiliates	287,000,000	465,000,000	620,000,000
Wholesale revenues, affiliates	244,000,000	236,000,000	237,000,000
Other revenues	199,000,000	199,000,000	175,000,000
Total operating revenues	5,702,000,000	5,976,000,000	5,529,000,000
Operating Expenses:
Fuel	1,679,000,000	1,851,000,000	1,824,000,000
Purchased power, non-affiliates	73,000,000	72,000,000	88,000,000
Purchased power, affiliates	198,000,000	208,000,000	219,000,000
Other operations and maintenance	1,262,000,000	1,418,000,000	1,211,000,000
Depreciation and amortization	637,000,000	606,000,000	545,000,000
Taxes other than income taxes	339,000,000	332,000,000	322,000,000
Total operating expenses	4,188,000,000	4,487,000,000	4,209,000,000
Operating Income	1,514,000,000	1,489,000,000	1,320,000,000
Other Income and (Expense):
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	22,000,000	36,000,000	79,000,000
Interest income	18,000,000	17,000,000	17,000,000
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized	(299,000,000)	(303,000,000)	(298,000,000)
Other income (expense), net	(30,000,000)	(30,000,000)	(25,000,000)
Total other income and (expense)	(289,000,000)	(280,000,000)	(227,000,000)
Earnings Before Income Taxes	1,225,000,000	1,209,000,000	1,093,000,000
Income taxes	478,000,000	463,000,000	384,000,000
Consolidated Net Income	747,000,000	746,000,000	709,000,000
Dividends on Preferred and Preference Stock of Subsidiaries	39,000,000	39,000,000	39,000,000
Consolidated Net Income After Dividends on Preferred and Preference Stock of Subsidiaries	708,000,000	707,000,000	670,000,000
Georgia Power [Member]
Operating Revenues:
Retail revenues	8,099,000,000	7,608,000,000	6,912,000,000
Wholesale revenues, non-affiliates	341,000,000	380,000,000	395,000,000
Wholesale revenues, affiliates	32,000,000	53,000,000	112,000,000
Other revenues	328,000,000	308,000,000	273,000,000
Total operating revenues	8,800,000,000	8,349,000,000	7,692,000,000
Operating Expenses:
Fuel	2,789,000,000	3,102,000,000	2,717,000,000
Purchased power, non-affiliates	390,000,000	368,000,000	269,000,000
Purchased power, affiliates	713,000,000	578,000,000	710,000,000
Other operations and maintenance	1,777,000,000	1,734,000,000	1,494,000,000
Depreciation and amortization	715,000,000	558,000,000	655,000,000
Taxes other than income taxes	369,000,000	344,000,000	317,000,000
Total operating expenses	6,753,000,000	6,684,000,000	6,162,000,000
Operating Income	2,047,000,000	1,665,000,000	1,530,000,000
Other Income and (Expense):
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	96,000,000	147,000,000	97,000,000
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized	(343,000,000)	(375,000,000)	(386,000,000)
Other income (expense), net	(13,000,000)	(17,000,000)
Total other income and (expense)	(260,000,000)	(245,000,000)	(289,000,000)
Earnings Before Income Taxes	1,787,000,000	1,420,000,000	1,241,000,000
Income taxes	625,000,000	453,000,000	410,000,000
Consolidated Net Income	1,162,000,000	967,000,000	831,000,000
Dividends on Preferred and Preference Stock of Subsidiaries	17,000,000	17,000,000	17,000,000
Consolidated Net Income After Dividends on Preferred and Preference Stock of Subsidiaries	1,145,000,000	950,000,000	814,000,000
Gulf Power [Member]
Operating Revenues:
Retail revenues	1,208,490,000	1,308,726,000	1,106,568,000
Wholesale revenues, non-affiliates	133,555,000	109,172,000	94,105,000
Wholesale revenues, affiliates	111,346,000	110,051,000	32,095,000
Other revenues	66,421,000	62,260,000	69,461,000
Total operating revenues	1,519,812,000	1,590,209,000	1,302,229,000
Operating Expenses:
Fuel	662,283,000	742,322,000	573,407,000
Purchased power, non-affiliates	48,882,000	41,278,000	23,706,000
Purchased power, affiliates	41,612,000	55,948,000	68,276,000
Other operations and maintenance	311,358,000	280,585,000	260,274,000
Depreciation and amortization	129,651,000	121,498,000	93,398,000
Taxes other than income taxes	101,302,000	101,778,000	94,506,000
Total operating expenses	1,295,088,000	1,343,409,000	1,113,567,000
Operating Income	224,724,000	246,800,000	188,662,000
Other Income and (Expense):
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	9,914,000	7,213,000	23,809,000
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized	(58,150,000)	(51,897,000)	(38,358,000)
Other income (expense), net	(4,012,000)	(2,888,000)	(3,652,000)
Total other income and (expense)	(52,248,000)	(47,572,000)	(18,201,000)
Earnings Before Income Taxes	172,476,000	199,228,000	170,461,000
Income taxes	61,268,000	71,514,000	53,025,000
Consolidated Net Income	111,208,000	127,714,000	117,436,000
Dividends on Preferred and Preference Stock of Subsidiaries	6,203,000	6,203,000	6,203,000
Consolidated Net Income After Dividends on Preferred and Preference Stock of Subsidiaries	105,005,000	121,511,000	111,233,000
Mississippi Power [Member]
Operating Revenues:
Retail revenues	792,463,000	797,912,000	790,950,000
Wholesale revenues, non-affiliates	273,178,000	287,917,000	299,268,000
Wholesale revenues, affiliates	30,417,000	41,614,000	44,546,000
Other revenues	16,819,000	15,625,000	14,657,000
Total operating revenues	1,112,877,000	1,143,068,000	1,149,421,000
Operating Expenses:
Fuel	490,415,000	501,830,000	519,687,000
Purchased power, non-affiliates	6,239,000	8,426,000	8,831,000
Purchased power, affiliates	65,574,000	75,230,000	83,104,000
Other operations and maintenance	266,395,000	268,063,000	246,758,000
Depreciation and amortization	80,337,000	76,891,000	70,916,000
Taxes other than income taxes	70,127,000	69,810,000	64,068,000
Total operating expenses	979,087,000	1,000,250,000	993,364,000
Operating Income	133,790,000	142,818,000	156,057,000
Other Income and (Expense):
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	24,707,000	3,795,000	387,000
Interest income	1,347,000	215,000	804,000
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized	(21,691,000)	(22,341,000)	(22,940,000)
Other income (expense), net	(45,000)	3,738,000	2,606,000
Total other income and (expense)	4,318,000	(14,593,000)	(19,143,000)
Earnings Before Income Taxes	138,108,000	128,225,000	136,914,000
Income taxes	42,193,000	46,275,000	50,214,000
Consolidated Net Income	95,915,000	81,950,000	86,700,000
Dividends on Preferred and Preference Stock of Subsidiaries	1,733,000	1,733,000	1,733,000
Consolidated Net Income After Dividends on Preferred and Preference Stock of Subsidiaries	94,182,000	80,217,000	84,967,000
Southern Power [Member]
Operating Revenues:
Wholesale revenues, non-affiliates	870,607,000	752,772,000	394,366,000
Wholesale revenues, affiliates	358,585,000	370,630,000	544,415,000
Other revenues	6,769,000	6,939,000	7,870,000
Total operating revenues	1,235,961,000	1,130,341,000	946,651,000
Operating Expenses:
Fuel	454,790,000	391,535,000	232,466,000
Purchased power, non-affiliates	78,368,000	72,657,000	79,355,000
Purchased power, affiliates	52,924,000	97,408,000	64,587,000
Other operations and maintenance	171,538,000	148,238,000	136,655,000
Loss (gain) on sale of property		478,000	4,977,000
Depreciation and amortization	124,204,000	119,333,000	98,135,000
Taxes other than income taxes	17,686,000	17,831,000	16,920,000
Total operating expenses	899,510,000	847,480,000	633,095,000
Operating Income	336,451,000	282,861,000	313,556,000
Other Income and (Expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	(19,806,000)
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized	(77,334,000)	(76,120,000)	(84,963,000)
Profit recognized on construction		470,000	13,296,000
Other income (expense), net	(1,223,000)	(546,000)	(374,000)
Total other income and (expense)	(98,363,000)	(76,196,000)	(72,041,000)
Earnings Before Income Taxes	238,088,000	206,665,000	241,515,000
Income taxes	75,857,000	75,356,000	85,663,000
Consolidated Net Income	$ 162,231,000	$ 131,309,000	$ 155,852,000