Southern Company served as the host for the KNect365 Smart Cities Summit, Oct. 29-30 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Executives from Southern Company, PowerSecure, Georgia Power and Alabama Power were featured among the conference's keynote speeches and panel discussions, including the morning keynote address by Chris Womack, Southern Company Executive Vice President and President of External Affairs.

Attendees including government officials and academics from cities across the U.S., transportation and energy executives learned about the Smart Neighborhood initiatives by Southern Company, Alabama Power and Georgia Power. The research and development project will provide customers with state-of-the-art home construction, distributed energy resources – including solar and battery energy storage – and smart home appliances and technologies. Both projects simulate what the future may hold for the energy industry and provide information on how homes of the future will function.

In addition to the Smart Neighborhood initiative, Southern Company shared its role in providing infrastructure that enhances cities and communities' quality of life, enriches growth and attracts investment opportunities. Representatives from Southern Company and its subsidiaries led conversations around new and emerging technologies like Advanced Metering Infrastructure, light-emitting diode networked lighting controls, fiber along the distribution grid, electric transportation and smart grid technologies.