The sexy secrets of a "Big Utility"
How do executives at the nation's second-largest utility keep their mistresses living in high style? By using ratepayer dollars, natch. That's the latest revelation about unbridled sleaze at the Atlanta-based Southern company, as reported at DonaldWatkins.com.
I do not consider myself an expert on such matters, but while living in Birmingham, AL, for 30-plus years, I heard quite a few tales about "kept women" by executives at the city's various corporations. That's what Donald Watkins, a longtime Alabama attorney and entrepreneur -- and a leading voice in online journalism about scandals swirling around Southern Company -- appears to be talking about. By the way, Southern Company subsidiaries include Alabama Power, Georgia Power, and Mississippi Power, so this expose could leave jaws agape across a swath of the Southeast, and beyond.
It seems likely that some of Birmingham's corporate "big dogs" have the decency to pay for "kept women" out of their own pockets. But that does not appear to be the case with Southern Company. To pay for personal sexcapades with company money -- from rate hikes foisted on unwitting ratepayers -- well, that emits an awful stench. It also might point to criminal activity, which if prosecuted and proven, could send a number of folks to prison for long stretches. And let's not forget possible civil wrongs, which could result in substantial awards for damages.
In a preview post today, Watkins points a picture that is both ugly and (for lack of a better word) titillating. Under the headline "Southern Company Execs Used Millions of Dollars of Customer Money to Pay Their Mistresses and Lovers," Watkins writes:
Since 2017, customers of Mississippi Power Company, Alabama Power Company, Georgia Power Company, and other Southern Company affiliates have endured dozens of painful rate increases totaling billions of dollars. One important fact was never disclosed to the 9 million Southern Company customers who were forced to pay these rate increases: These utility companies used millions of dollars of customer money each year to pay the mistresses and lovers of Southern Company executives and other corporate officers.
Essentially, the customers of Mississippi Power, Alabama Power, Georgia Power, and other Southern Company affiliates have been duped into financially underwriting illicit romances, love, and sex for Southern Company executives and officers -- for years. As a result, the mistresses and lovers who benefited from these secret personal relationships lived large and they pampered their men, all with Southern Company money.
What is more, these secret romances, as well as the inherent conflicts of interest related to them, were never disclosed to the Southern Company's board of directors or to the company's state and federal regulators, as required by law.
"As required by law"? That phrase suggests legal problems could be looming on the horizon -- and they might produce major headaches for participants in this scheme. Watkins is promising a scoop that could rock the South, with its impact being felt in other regions, as well":
We have all of the fascinating details related to this sex and romance scandal. We will break down this misuse of corporate funds for you.
Stay tuned for an explosive investigative report that will leave you speechless! It's coming soon.
We plan to keep up with this shocker at Legal Schnauzer.