ATLANTA -- Southern Company announced today the planned redemption on Aug. 23, 2002 of all $200 million aggregate liquidation amount of the Southern Company Capital Trust III 7.75% Cumulative Quarterly Income Preferred Securities due March 31, 2037.

The redemption price for the full redemption of the Southern Company Capital Trust III 7.75% Cumulative Quarterly Income Preferred Securities will be $25 per Preferred Security plus accrued and unpaid distributions thereon to the redemption date.

Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, as Property Trustee, will notify each registered holder by first class mail on July 23, 2002. The books will be closed on the redemption date.

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 fast-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 2002 “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.