You are given a text that consists of multiple sentences. Your task is to perform abstractive summarization on this text. Use your understanding of the content to express the main ideas and crucial details in a shorter, coherent, and natural sounding text. 
Text: The economies in our service territories are starting to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the customer demand remains mildly lower than pre-pandemic levels during the first quarter, it exceeded our expectation.
Importantly, many of the programs we implemented to keep customers connected during the pandemic have proven to be very effective.
We have reliably provided energy to our customers and facilitated alternative payment arrangements for those in need.
I continue to be proud of our employees and the ways we have partnered with our communities throughout this pandemic.
This past February parts of our nation were contending with the effects of devastating winter weather that crippled generating units and power grids in Texas and beyond.
At Southern Company, each of our businesses, including those with operations in Texas and the Southwest region performed well during this event.
Our regulated electric and gas utilities did not experience any operational issues or related service disruptions.
Southern Power was minimally impacted due to its highly contracted business model.
Our wholesale gas services subsidiary Sequent Energy effectively served customers in need utilizing in large part, natural gas held in storage.
And micro grids provided by power secure had a 98 runtime reliability producing over 2,260 megawatt hours of reliable energy for customers during the storm.
The winter seasons atypical temperatures have also caused utilities across the country to evaluate their own system resilience under similar conditions.
For Southern Company are vertically integrated structure and integrated resource planning process as we utilize across our Southeast electric utilities have beneficial for years in allowing us along with our regulators to carefully consider, plan for, and invest in infrastructure needed to address a range of extreme circumstances and improve resilience.
We will continue to leverage the rigorous analysis and stakeholder input provided by these proceedings as we evaluate the potential for additional system enhancements across our footprint.
Let's turn now to an update on Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4.
Unit 3 Hot Functional Testing started on April 25 marking the last milestone in a series of major tests.
Hot Functional Testing is conducted to verify the successful operation of reactor components and systems together and to confirm that the reactor is ready for fuel load.
As part of the testing, the site team will run Unit 3 plant systems without nuclear fuel and advanced through the testing process to reach normal operating pressure and temperature.
Starting Hot Functional Testing represents a significant step toward the operation of Unit 3 and ultimately providing customers with a reliable carbon-free energy source for the next 60 years to 80 years.
The site work plan now targets fuel load in the third quarter and late December, 2021 in-service date for Unit 3, of course, any delays could result in a first quarter 2022 Unit 3 in-service date.
Now, as we have stated in prior calls and important step in the system turnover process is to assure that the as built state of the plant aligns with the design basis and to resolve any differences.
Before we close systems, declare them ready for testing and submit ITAAC.
We are committed to the notion of getting it right.
In recent months, Southern Nuclear identified certain construction remediation work, primarily electrical in nature that was necessary to ensure the quality and design standards were met prior to the start of Hot Functional Testing.
We reviewed the project construction quality programs prior to Hot Functional Testing, we implemented improvement plans and we believe Southern Nuclear's construction quality program is effective.
Furthermore, the improvement plans we are implementing are designed to help drive successful completion of Unit 3 and improve performance for Unit 4.
As the operator of these units, we are committed to getting it right, striving to ensure our safety and quality standards are met prior to significant testing and operations activities.
We will not sacrifice that commitment to meet schedule or milestone dates.
With Unit 3 direct construction nearing completion, and Hot Functional Testing in progress, our primary system focus include going forward one, successful completion of Hot Functional Testing, two, completion of the remaining construction system turnovers and testing leading to fuel load, and three, an orderly transition from fuel load to an efficient start-up of the unit.
The ITAAC submittal and review process is expected to accelerate as we move into and beyond the hot functional test sequence.
To date 188 ITAAC had been submitted to the NRC.
We will submit the remaining 211 during Hot Functional Testing as we approach fuel load.
Turning the Unit 4, direct construction is now approximately 80% complete.
And the current site work plan targets completion in the third quarter of 2022, which would provide margin to the regulatory approve November 22 in service date.
Earlier this week, the site came placed the water tank on top of the Unit 4 containment vessel and shield building roof representing the last major crane lift at the project site.
Integrated flush is in progress and initial energization is expected in the coming weeks.
The site is focused on increasing craft, labor resources and electrical productivity.
We will continue adding incremental resources while also shifting resources from Unit 3 to Unit 4, which is expected to increase our current pace of construction completion.
Construction completion has averaged 1.5% per month since the start of the year.
In order to achieve November 22 regulatory and approved and service date, we estimate we would need to average construction completion of approximately 2% per month through the end of this year.
And as a reference point, Unit 3 averaged approximately 2% during the second half of 2019 and through the first half of 2020, which did include periods heavily impacted by COVID-19.
Looking now at cost during the first quarter Georgia Power allocated $84 million of contingency into the base capital forecast related to extending the schedule for Unit 3, performing construction remediation work and increasing support resources across both units.
As a result, Georgia Power replenished its contingency by $48 million reporting an after-tax charge of $36 million at the end of the first quarter.
While there was contingency remaining prior to this increase, we believe providing this additional amount of contingency is appropriate when considering the extended time necessary to reach the start of Unit 3 Hot Functional Testing and the potential cost risk remaining as we complete both units.
The major risks that remain to our cost estimate are similar to those for schedule namely, one, our ability to increase earned hours and improve productivity or CPI at Unit 4, successful completion of the Unit 3 Hot Functional Testing, and three, completion of the system turnovers and subsequent testing lead it to the Unit 3 fuel load.
Notably at this time last year, the onset of COVID-19 led to many uncertainties at the project site.
The site team has responded in exemplary fashion, maintaining safety and progress toward completion of both units during what has been an unprecedented year.
With effective COVID protocols in place and now the broader availability of vaccines, the impact on the site has decreased in recent months as active cases and isolation rates are trending significantly lower.
We are very pleased that Unit 3 Hot Functional Testing is under way.
We've consistently said that both the commencement and successful completion of this testing sequence will reduce risk for the project.
I hope you're all safe and well.
As Tom mentioned, we had a very strong start to the year.
Our adjusted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2021 was $0.98, $0.20 higher than last year and $0.14 above our estimate.
The primary drivers compared to last year was strong performance at our state-regulated utilities, despite a comparative quarter that had very limited COVID-19 impacts.
The lessons we learned during COVID-19 allowed us to maintain a relatively static cost structure as we saw a withdrawal of COVID-19 impacts from their peak.
We saw year-over-year benefit of $0.06 from weather due to the extremely mild first quarter we experienced in 2020.
Further, retail electric revenues increased in aggregate due to strong customer growth in the Southeast and constructive state regulatory actions.
When looking at an adjusted earnings per share as compared to our estimate for the quarter, the main drivers of the positive variance were continued expense discipline, retail sales impacts from COVID-19 that were nearly 60% better than our forecast across all customer classes and significantly lower than their peak and residential customer growth that has continued to exceed our expectation by almost 50%, we added nearly 60,000 customers last year.
A detailed reconciliation of our report and adjusted quarterly results as compared to 2020 is included in today's release and the earnings package.
Looking more closely at sales in the first quarter, weather-normal retail sales were only approximately 1.5% lower than last year's largely unaffected quarter.
This decrease was driven by the continued trends of higher residential sales offset by lower commercial and industrial sales compared to normal times.
While residential sales remained elevated, commercial and industrial sales continue to be depressed by about 3%.
As you would expect, the commercial sub-sectors most impacted by the pandemic continue to be office, restaurant and education.
These are meaningful declines and we expect recovery to be very gradual, even with improving economic conditions.
For industrial sales during the quarter, supply chain constraints appear to be affecting the automotive sector with primary metals and chemicals also down, but construction and lumber in particular are demonstrating early strength.
In general, all industrial segments have moved stronger since the COVID-19 peak.
The economies in our service territory are showing strong signs of recovery with retail sales exceeding our expectations in the first quarter by roughly 3 percentage points.
A recent analysis produced by IHS Markit estimates that most Southeastern states, including Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi are predicted to return to their pre-pandemic peak employment levels by 2022, while other states may not return to these levels until 2025 and beyond.
We have certainly learned that the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts are unpredictable, but the potential for more near-term recovery is encouraging.
We mentioned on our last call that economic development trends are strong in our region, particularly in Georgia.
And in fact, in the first quarter of 2021 alone, economic development announcements in Southern Company's retail electric service territory, included the addition of over 3,600 new jobs and investments of more than $2.2 billion.
We saw strong activity in both non-manufacturing and manufacturing segments with new project announcements across a variety of industries, including warehousing, distribution, scientific and transportation equipment among others.
For the second quarter of 2021, our estimated EPS-our adjusted earnings per share estimate is $0.78.
I would also like to call your attention to our recent dividend increase.
At its last meeting, the Southern Company board of directors approved an $0.08 per share increase in our common dividend, raising our annualized rate to $2.64 per share.
This action marks our 20th consecutive annual increase and for 73 years, dating back to 1948, Southern Company has paid a dividend that was equal to or greater than that of the previous year.
The Board's decision to increase the dividend reinforces the strength and sustainability of Southern Company's business.
This dedication to continuing our dividend increases combined with our projected long-term earnings per share growth rate of 5% to 7%, supports our objective of providing superior risk adjusted total shareholder return to investors over the long-term.
On our ESG efforts, recall in January, Southern Company became the first major U.S. utility to publish a sustainable financing framework.
Our first issuance was a green bond related to Southern Power's renewable investments, further solidifying Southern Power is one of the largest green bond issuers in the United States.
In February, we issued our inaugural sustainable bond at Georgia Power with net proceeds to be used for sustainable projects, such as our spending with diverse and small business suppliers and our investment in renewable energy projects.
The Georgia Power issuance aligns with our ongoing commitments to the community and the continued growth of Georgia Power solar portfolio.
We look forward to leveraging our sustainable financing framework for future financings by all of our issuers as appropriate.
Also I'd mentioned that Southern Power has been very active over the last few years, establishing itself as one of the nation's largest renewable generation owners with a total renewable portfolio of nearly 5,000 megawatts in operation are under construction.
Within the last month, Southern Power announced the acquisition of the 300-megawatt Deuel Harvest wind facility located in South Dakota and the 118-megawatt Glass Sands wind facility located in Oklahoma.
With these acquisitions, Southern Power now owns 15 wind projects and approximately 2,500 megawatts of solar across the U.S. along with approximately 160 megawatts of battery storage.
The existing generation fleet comprised of both renewables and natural gas is over 90% contracted for the next 10 years.
Finally, over the past three years, we have strategically simplified our business in order to focus our time and investments in our core operations.
As another example of that commitment, yesterday, we entered into an agreement to sell our wholesale gas trading and services business comprised of Sequent Energy Management and Sequent Energy Canada and we expect to complete the transaction in the third quarter of 2021.
We do not expect a material gain or loss on the sale of the business, there we'll provide a return of the associated working capital and the elimination of certain credit supports of approximately $1 billion.
As a reminder, we have always excluded Sequent's earnings from our adjusted results due to its quarterly variability.
So the sale of this business both reduces risk and has no impact on our adjusted earnings per share expectations for the remainder of the year.
I can tell you that it's been my pleasure working with all of those individuals at Sequent for more than 20 years.
And I really look forward to their continued success.
As I noted last quarter, we achieved a 50% reduction in GHG emissions in 2020, beating our 2030 goal by a decade.
Earlier this month, we filed an integrated resource plan in Mississippi that includes the retirement of Mississippi's last coal unit in 2027.
Both Alabama Power and Georgia Power will work with their respective regulators over the next year and responding to the effluent limitation guideline rules, which they will reflect in their next integrated resource plan.
We will also continue to work with all stakeholders in developing these strategies.
Another note, we have historically worked in partnership with municipalities and co-ops in our region.
We work hard on mutual respect and constructive collaboration.
As an example of the wisdom of this approach, Alabama Power recently signed a long-term agreement with Power South of valued customer in Alabama, which is expected to create energy savings and enhance system reliability from coordinated planning and operations.
As a part of this agreement, Alabama Power has the right to participate in a portion of power SaaS future incremental load growth.
In closing, our strong first quarter positions us well to deliver on the financial objectives for the year, with the summer months and storm season ahead, our operating companies are well prepared to support the needs of our customers.
And of course, all eyes remain on progress at Vogtle and we look forward to providing continued updates as we approach fuel load and in service for Unit 3.
Operator, we're now ready to take questions.

user
southern co quarterly basic earnings per share, excluding items $0.98.

assistant