Commitments (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Estimated long-term obligations

Fuel expense in 2018, 2017, and 2016 for the Southern Company system is shown below, the majority of which was purchased under long-term commitments.

	Southern Company		Alabama Power		Georgia Power		Mississippi Power		Southern Power
	(in millions)
2018	$	4,637	$	1,301	$	1,698	$	405	$	699
2017	4,400		1,225		1,671		395		621
2016	4,361		1,297		1,807		343		456

Total capacity expense under these non-affiliate PPAs accounted for as operating leases in 2018, 2017, and 2016 was as follows:

	Southern Company		Alabama Power		Georgia Power
	(in millions)
2018	$	231	$	44	$	113
2017	235		41		118
2016	232		42		113

Estimated total obligations under non-affiliate PPAs accounted for as operating leases at December 31, 2018 were as follows:

	Southern Company		Alabama Power		Georgia Power
	(in millions)
2019	$	161	$	41	$	120
2020	164		42		122
2021	168		44		124
2022	171		46		125
2023	127		—		127
2024 and thereafter	642		—		642
Total	$	1,433	$	173	$	1,260

Georgia Power's estimated total obligations under affiliate PPAs accounted for as leases at December 31, 2018 were as follows:

	Georgia Power
	Affiliate Capital Lease PPAs		Affiliate Operating Lease PPAs
	(in millions)
2019	$	23	$	64
2020	23		65
2021	24		66
2022	24		68
2023	25		69
2024 and thereafter	158		349
Total	$	277	$	681
Less: amounts representing executory costs(a)	42
Net minimum lease payments	235
Less: amounts representing interest(b)	105
Present value of net minimum lease payments	$	130

(a) Executory costs such as taxes, maintenance, and insurance (including the estimated profit thereon) are estimated and included in total minimum lease payments.

(b) Calculated using an adjusted incremental borrowing rate to reduce the present value of the net minimum lease payments to fair value.

Expected future contractual obligations

Southern Company Gas' expected future contractual obligations for pipeline charges, storage capacity, and gas supply that are not recognized on the balance sheets at December 31, 2018 were as follows:

	Pipeline Charges, Storage Capacity, and Gas Supply
	(in millions)
2019	$	781
2020	584
2021	520
2022	489
2023	412
2024 and thereafter	1,871
Total	$	4,657

Schedule of rent expense

Total rent expense for 2018, 2017, and 2016 was as follows:

	Southern Company(*)		Alabama Power		Georgia Power		Mississippi Power		Southern Power(*)
	(in millions)
2018	$	192	$	23	$	34	$	4	$	31
2017	176		25		31		3		29
2016	169		18		28		3		22

(*) Includes contingent rent expense related to Southern Power's land leases based on wind production and escalation in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.

	Southern Company Gas
	(in millions)
2018	$	15
2017	15
Successor – July 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016	8
Predecessor – January 1, 2016 through June 30, 2016	6

Estimated minimum lease payments under operating leases

At December 31, 2018, estimated minimum lease payments under operating leases were as follows:

	Southern Company		Alabama Power		Georgia Power		Mississippi Power		Southern Power		Southern Company Gas
	(in millions)
2019	$	156	$	12	$	23	$	3	$	23	$	18
2020	134		10		18		2		24		16
2021	110		7		9		1		24		15
2022	98		6		6		1		24		13
2023	79		3		5		1		26		10
2024 and thereafter	1,040		1		13		2		874		34
Total	$	1,617	$	39	$	74	$	10	$	995	$	106