ATLANTA, Feb. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO Thomas A. Fanning today announced a number of changes within the company's executive management.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080801/SOCOLOGO )

Kimberly S. Greene, president and chief executive officer of Southern Company Services, will become executive vice president and chief operating officer of Southern Company. She will be responsible for the Southern Company system's operations, which includes generation, transmission, engineering and construction services, system planning and research and environmental affairs, as well as wholesale energy providers Southern Power and Southern Wholesale Energy.

Greene will succeed Mark A. Crosswhite, who will become president and chief executive officer of subsidiary Alabama Power. Crosswhite will assume the role vacated by Charles D. McCrary, who has announced plans to retire.

Mark S. Lantrip, currently treasurer of Southern Company and executive vice president of finance and treasurer of Southern Company Services, will replace Greene as president and chief executive officer of Southern Company Services. In his new role, Lantrip will be responsible for overseeing the company's information technology, human resources, supply chain management and marketing and program management, as well as SouthernLINC Wireless, Southern Company's wireless telecommunications provider, and Southern Telecom, the company's wholesale fiber optic network provider.

Southern Company Services Vice President of Finance and Assistant Treasurer Xia Liu will become treasurer of Southern Company and senior vice president of finance and treasurer of Southern Company Services. In addition to her current oversight of the treasury, financial analysis and strategic development functions, she will assume responsibility for enterprise risk management, insurance, trust finance and corporate planning and budgeting.

The new roles will take effect March 1, with McCrary serving as chairman of the Alabama Power board of directors until May 1, when Crosswhite is expected to assume the role.

"Southern Company prioritizes the growth and development of our exceptional talent," said Fanning. "This longstanding commitment to leadership development creates a deep bench strength that builds the foundation for our success."

Greene, 47, returned to Southern Company in 2013 from TVA, where she was executive vice president and chief generation officer. Previously, Greene served as TVA's chief financial officer, executive vice president of financial services and chief risk officer. She was also group president for strategy and external relations at TVA. Prior to joining TVA in 2007, Greene was treasurer of Southern Company and senior vice president of finance and treasurer of Southern Company Services. She began her career with Southern Company's engineering organization in 1991.

Crosswhite, 51, joined Southern Company in 2004 as senior vice president and general counsel for Southern Company's generation organization. He previously served as president and CEO of subsidiary Gulf Power and held leadership positions at Alabama Power in the legal and external affairs organizations. Prior to joining Southern Company, he was a partner in the law firm of Balch & Bingham LLP in Birmingham, Ala., where he practiced in the energy section for 17 years.

Lantrip, 59, joined Southern Company in 1981 as an analyst in the corporate planning department of Gulf Power. He has since worked in a wide variety of positions of increasing responsibility in financial planning and system planning departments across Southern Company and its subsidiaries, including Southern Company Services and Georgia Power. His leadership roles have included oversight of treasury, financial planning and analysis and risk management.

Liu, 44, began her career with Southern Company's finance organization in 1998.  She has since held a number of positions of increasing responsibility in Southern Company corporate finance and treasury, generation fuel services and Alabama Power regulatory and financial planning. 

With 4.4 million customers and nearly 46,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast through its subsidiaries. A leading U.S. producer of clean, safe, reliable and affordable electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for energy innovation, excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are below the national average. Southern Company and its subsidiaries are leading the nation's nuclear renaissance through the construction of the first new nuclear units to be built in a generation of Americans and are demonstrating their commitment to energy innovation through the development of a state-of-the-art coal gasification plant. Southern Company has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense and G.I. Jobs magazine as a top military employer and listed by DiversityInc as a top company for Blacks. The company received the 2012 Edison Award from the Edison Electric Institute for its leadership in new nuclear development, was named Electric Light & Power magazine's Utility of the Year for 2012 and is continually ranked among the top utilities in Fortune's annual World's Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility rankings. Visit our website at www.southerncompany.com.

SOURCE Southern Company