Charles W. “Chuck” Whitney has been appointed president of Southern Electric International - Europe, a newly formed subsidiary of Southern Electric International, Southern Electric International President Tom Boren announced today.

Whitney will be Southern Electric International’s chief business development officer in Europe. In addition, Southern Electric International - Europe will serve as a holding company for the investments of Southern Electric International and its parent firm, The Southern Company, in the United Kingdom. The firm will be based in London.

“Chuck Whitney played a major role in Southern Electric International’s recent acquisition of South Western Electricity plc of the UK,” Boren said. “His business skills and knowledge of the European energy market will continue to be important to our international investment strategy.”

Southern Electric International, a unit of The Southern Company, develops, builds, owns, and operates power production and delivery facilities and provides a broad range of technical services to utilities and industrial companies in the U.S. and international markets.

The Southern Company (NYSE: SO) of Atlanta, Georgia, is also the parent firm of five U.S. electric utilities: Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power, and Savannah Electric. Other subsidiaries include Southern Nuclear, Southern Development and Investment Group, and Southern Company Services. Together, these companies make up one of the largest electric utility groups in the United States.

Whitney, 49, joined The Southern Company in 1986 as general manager and comptroller, support and administration, for Georgia Power’s Vogtle nuclear plant. He became executive assistant to Georgia Power’s chief executive officer in 1988, and was named vice president and treasurer of Georgia Power in 1990. He was promoted to region vice president of Georgia Power, where he remained until 1994, when he became vice president of international business development at Southern Electric International.

Previously, Whitney was a partner with the Atlanta law firm Troutman Sanders.

Whitney received a bachelor`s degree in business administration from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and a law degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.