Thomas Fanning on labor policy
From Bonus Episode: Tom Fanning on 43 Years at Southern Company (recorded at UNC Clean Tech Summit) · · Energy Empire
“We need to reinvigorate the development of skilled labor in America. That should be a national imperative. And we need to align ourselves not only with independent workers, but with the labor unions. I can tell you a great partner in the work that we did at Vogal with Sean McGarvey US building trades. This idea of somehow union labor is terrible and that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard on the planet.”
On , Thomas Fanning, Former Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer at Southern Company, spoke about labor policy during Bonus Episode: Tom Fanning on 43 Years at Southern Company (recorded at UNC Clean Tech Summit) on Energy Empire.
About Thomas Fanning
In a bonus episode of the Energy Empire podcast recorded at the UNC Clean Tech Summit, former Southern Company Chairman, President, and CEO Tom Fanning discussed his 43-year career at the company, including his oversight of the Plant Vogtle nuclear construction project. Fanning described the project as a public-private partnership and argued that the United States has lost its ability to build large infrastructure projects. He stated that the government should act as an enabler while the private sector leads recovery efforts in critical infrastructure. Fanning criticized organized energy markets in regions such as PJM, New England, MISO, Texas, and California, calling them "kind of a disaster," and contrasted them with integrated regulated markets in the Southeast and West. He also defended union labor, saying "we need everybody in the boat." Fanning recounted an ethical dilemma from his time as CFO of Southern Company's international division, alleging that a president hired from AES had attempted to pay a bribe. He described Southern Company's guiding principles as "clean, safe, reliable, affordable" with a stable stock price, but cautioned that "the greatest harbinger of future failure is past success."