Southern Company confirmed on October 5 that an unauthorized third party accessed information associated with about 400,000 customer accounts through its online customer portal — one of the largest utility customer-data incidents in the United States this year. The affected customers are spread across its two subsidiaries, Georgia Power and Alabama Power.
According to local station CNAW 2, Southern Company said in a statement: "Southern Company recently detected suspicious activity involving our online customer portal. An unauthorized third party accessed certain, limited information about the accounts of approximately 400K customers." Georgia Power said the same day that it is notifying roughly 300,000 customers — implying the remaining affected accounts, roughly 100,000, belong mostly to Alabama Power customers.
Per notification emails going out to affected customers, the stolen data was "limited contact and account information": customers' names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, and other basic account details. The company stressed that bank account numbers, payment card numbers, and driver's license numbers were not compromised.
Southern Company said it took immediate steps to stop the unauthorized activity once detected and notified law enforcement, adding that its investigation has found no evidence of ongoing unauthorized access. Georgia Power confirmed the same finding. Neither the company nor its subsidiaries has disclosed the exact date the intrusion occurred or identified the third party responsible.
The company is notifying affected customers directly and will provide free credit monitoring. Customers who receive a notice should read it carefully and enroll in the monitoring service. Even customers who don't get a notice can use the moment to check their account login history — and stay skeptical of suspicious calls from anyone claiming to be Georgia Power and asking for card or bank details. Georgia Power has said it never calls customers to demand payment information over the phone.
Security experts routinely warn that stolen utility-account data fuels targeted phishing: scammers posing as the power company call or text customers about "billing problems" or "past-due payments" and press for immediate card details. Because the stolen records include real names, addresses, and partial Social Security numbers, those scams become much harder to spot. The standard advice applies: never give payment or personal information to an unsolicited caller, and always initiate contact through the phone number printed on your bill or the company's official website.
The incident is a reminder that utility customer portals have become a prime target for hackers: they hold large troves of verified names, addresses, and phone numbers — perfect raw material for precision phishing scams later. The company said it continues to cooperate with the law-enforcement investigation.