Southern Co. Reports Lower Competitive Retail Natural Gas Customer Count (SouthStar)

Southern Co., the ultimate parent of Southstar Energy Services and related brands, reported a lower retail competitive natural gas customer count in its Gas Marketing Services segment, in reporting third quarter earnings

As of Sept. 30, 2019, Southern's Gas Marketing Services segment was serving 611,000 customers, versus 622,000 as of June 30, 2019, and 685,000 a year ago. The September 30, 2018 total had included approximately 70,000 customers in Ohio contracted through an annual auction process to serve non-shopping customers for 12 months beginning April 1, 2018.

Southern's Gas Marketing Services' market share of energy customers in Georgia was 28.5% as of Sept. 30, 2019, versus 28.8% as of June 30, 2019 and 29.2% a year ago.

Third quarter volumes for Southern's Gas Marketing Services segment were 8 million mmBtu, versus 9 million mmBtu a year ago

Southern's Gas Marketing Services reported an Adjusted Operating Margin of $21 million for the third quarter, versus $19 million a year ago.

Southern's Gas Marketing Services reported a net loss of $4 million for the third quarter, versus a net loss of $8 million a year ago. This improvement primarily relates to a $2 million increase in adjusted operating margin and a $2 million decrease in income tax expense due to changes in state income tax apportionment factors in several states.