Gulfport, Miss. – In an effort to keep you better informed, Mississippi Power is launching several new interactive tools focusing on outage communication and company news.

Customers can now report, receive notifications and track outages if they occur at their home or business through a new state-of-the-art communication system that includes email and text alerts, as well as the outage map that launched late last year.

The company is also unveiling its online NewsCenter featuring the latest company information, photos and videos. The site, mississippipowernews.com, is designed to keep customers updated regularly on the company’s industry, reliability and community efforts across Southeast Mississippi.

“We know from customer feedback and communication trends across our industry that customers want more options in how they receive information,” Corporate Communication Director Christy Ihrig said. “These tools will bring the latest Mississippi Power information right to their screens and keep them up-to-date on company news, including storm restoration and industry trends, as well as if an outage does occur.”

The enhanced outage notification system – which is designed to work with smartphones, tablets or computers – allows customers to check on the status of their outage through text, email, or the Mississippi Power Outage Center App on their smart device.

Once a customer signs up, the system will automatically send updates about any power outage that might affect them, including information on how long the outage is likely to last and when the outage has been restored.

Signing up for email or text message notifications online is simple. After logging into their account on mississippipower.com, customers should select “Set Outage Alerts.” Or they can sign up for text alerts by texting “REG” to “MSPWR” or 67797. They’ll have the option to sign up using their phone number or Mississippi Power account number to register through text.

Customers can also report and get outage information with the Mississippi Power Outage Center app available for free in Android Google Play and Apple iTunes stores.

“Instant notifications are just one example of how Mississippi Power is evolving our service,” said Customer Operations Manager Charlie Sentell. “Making use of new technology is a great way to keep our customers in the loop.”

Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and environmentally responsible energy for more than 186,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. Recognized throughout the utility industry for excellence in storm restoration and recovery efforts, is the 2013 winner of the Edison Electric Institute’s Emergency Assistance Award. As a leader in safety, Mississippi Power ranked first in the 2013 Southeastern Electric Exchange (SEE) Safety Performance Reports. Visit our website at mississippipower.com, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube.