Southern Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Allen Franklin announced that the company’s chief financial officer, Gale Klappa, will be leaving Southern Company in mid-April to become president of Wisconsin Energy Corporation. Franklin also announced that the Southern Company Board of Directors has elected Thomas A. Fanning to succeed Klappa as executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer. Fanning is currently president and chief executive officer of Southern Company subsidiary Gulf Power Company.

“Gale has provided strong, positive leadership over his 28-year career at Southern Company and, in particular, in his most recent role as chief financial officer. We wish him every success as he returns to his home state in a key position with Wisconsin Energy,” Franklin said.

“Tom has done an extraordinary job at Gulf Power and has delivered consistently strong results in his numerous leadership roles throughout Southern Company,” added Franklin. “Tom is a bright, strategic thinker and an energetic member of our management team. His strong financial background and depth in both corporate and operational experience make him a natural choice to succeed Gale.”

Prior to being named president and CEO at Gulf Power last May, Fanning served as executive vice president, treasurer and chief financial officer at Georgia Power Company, Southern Company’s largest subsidiary.

Since joining Southern Company in 1980, Fanning, 46, has held executive positions in several Southern Company subsidiaries, including chief financial officer of Mississippi Power Company; chief information officer and senior vice president of strategy for the parent company; and leadership roles at Southern Company Services. Fanning holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Klappa, 52, who was named executive vice president and chief financial officer in 2001, joined Southern Company in 1974, and has held a broad range of executive and management positions in marketing and pricing, competitive generation, forecasting and external affairs. He is a former president of Mirant Corporation’s North American Group and president and chief executive officer of the South Western Electricity Board in the U.K. Klappa holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

With 4 million customers and nearly 37,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier super-regional energy company in the Southeast and a leading U.S. producer of electricity. Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states, a growing competitive generation company, an energy services business and a competitive retail natural gas business, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are 15 percent below the national average. Southern Company has been named No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s 2003 “America’s Most Admired Companies” list in the Electric and Gas Utility industry. Southern Company has more than 500,000 shareholders, making its common stock one of the most widely held in the United States. Visit the Southern Company Web site at www.southerncompany.com.