Alabama Power

Alabama Power was incorporated in Gadsden on December 4, 1906 by Cherokee County native William Patrick Lay [1]. It is an operating company of the Atlanta-based Southern Company, employs 6,800 people, has total assets of $15.7 billion and is the largest taxpayer in Alabama. The Alabama Public Service Commission has regulated its rates since 1920.

Early history

In 1912 Lay sold the company to James Mitchell, a Massachusetts engineer backed by a London investment house. The first dam, Lock 12 on the Coosa River (now Lay Dam), was completed in December 1913, generated power by April 1914 and reached Birmingham by July. In 1917 Mitchell donated the Muscle Shoals dam site to the federal government. Thomas W. Martin, a Montgomery attorney, assumed executive authority after Mitchell died in 1920 and led the company’s expansion [1]. See Etowah County.

Dams and generation

Dams built in the 1920s were Mitchell (1923), Martin (1926), Jordan (1928), Yates (1928) and Thurlow (1930). Logan Martin Dam followed in 1964, the first nuclear plant near Dothan in 1977, and Harris Dam on the Tallapoosa River in 1983. As of 2007 coal supplied about 69 percent of output, nuclear 19 percent, natural gas 8 percent and hydropower 4 percent [1]. See Tennessee Valley Authority in Alabama.

Southern Company

In 1928 a group backed by J. P. Morgan took control through a hostile takeover, folding the company into Commonwealth & Southern. After the 1935 Public Utility Holding Company Act, the Southern Company began full operation in 1949, holding Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Mississippi Power and Gulf Power. The company built an Art Deco headquarters in Birmingham in 1925 topped by a gilded statue known as Electra, and it helped recruit Mercedes-Benz to Tuscaloosa County [1]. See Mercedes-Benz U.S. International.

Founding and dams

William Patrick Lay, a Cherokee County native, incorporated the company in Gadsden on December 4, 1906. Lay Dam on the Coosa River was completed in December 1913, began generating in April 1914 and sent power to Birmingham by July. James Mitchell bought the company in 1912, moved its headquarters to Birmingham and donated the Muscle Shoals dam site to the federal government in 1917. Martin Dam on the Tallapoosa River was completed in 1926.[2]

Growth and headquarters

The company first served the Birmingham industrial district and began rural electrification in Madison County in 1920. Its 1925 Art Deco headquarters in Birmingham was topped with a gilded statue known as Electra. It is an operating company of Atlanta-based Southern Company, has about 6,800 employees and .7 billion in assets, and is the state’s largest taxpayer. In 2007 coal produced about 69 percent of its output, nuclear 19 percent, natural gas 8 percent and hydropower 4 percent.[2]

FAQs

When was it founded? December 4, 1906.

Who owns it? Southern Company.

Sources

1. Encyclopedia of Alabama: Alabama Power Company
2. Encyclopedia of Alabama: Alabama Power Company

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 10, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue