Southern Company announced today the completion of its educational Web site --“Learning Power” -- to teach students about electricity and utilities. The site will help continue Southern Company’s educational legacy in a cost-effective, widely accessible and creative manner.

The site can be visited at www.southernco.com/site/learningpower.

“Learning Power” fits into an expanding array of Internet teaching materials. Research indicates Web sites will continue to be an increasingly important tool for students and teachers. ZDTV, an affiliate of high-tech media company Ziff-Davis, reports 57 percent of school children have Internet access either at home or school and 87 percent of teachers use the Web to prepare classroom materials. In addition, Internet use nearly doubles each year, according to Matrix Information and Directory Services, one of the foremost sources of Internet monitoring.

Designed primarily with kids in mind, the site features easy-to-understand explanations of electricity, colorful graphics, Louie the Lightning Bug cartoons, and a user-friendly format. The “Learning Power” site can be accessed from links on the Southern Company Web site and the Web sites of Southern Company’s five utilities -- Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power, and Savannah Electric.

The site helps teachers match activities and information to K-12 curriculum, using the National Science Education Standards as its reference. Additionally, the site offers a “Teacher’s Guide” section that offers pre-prepared worksheets and lesson plans for different grade levels.

On the site, teachers can find a curriculum guide for planning courses on electricity, parents can find tips on how to increase their child’s learning power, and people of all ages can find activities and information on electrical safety and the history and science of electricity. Specific sections include how power is generated, what is a kilowatt-hour, and where to avoid flying kites, as well as rotating science projects and the history of electrical inventions.

The content will be updated regularly to allow for growth and change. Currently, “Learning Power” includes activities and information for kids of all ages, as well as resource suggestions. A breakdown of information on the site includes:

 Preschool/Elementary (grades K-4): Electrical safety; activity pages related to electricity.

 Middle (Grades 5-8): Facts about electricity and power generation.

 Secondary (Grades 9-12): History of electrical research and careers in the utility industry.

 Teachers/Parents/Adults: Field trips, teaching materials, and mentoring programs.

Southern Company has long been dedicated to improving education. In Georgia alone last year, Southern Company contributed $4.6 million to improving education. And through its Alabama Power subsidiary, Southern Company donated $3.2 million towards education, including $160,000 in grants to individual classroom teachers and $500,000 to local education funds. Meanwhile, employees and retirees spent some 14,500 hours mentoring, volunteering and leading educational workshops in 1998.

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an international energy company with $35 billion in assets through regional utilities and operations around the world. It is the largest producer of electricity in the United States and one of the world’s largest independent power producers. Based in Atlanta, Southern Company is the parent firm of Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power and Savannah Electric. Through its Southern Energy Inc. subsidiary, Southern Company supplies electricity in 10 countries on four continents. It also provides energy-related marketing, trading and technical services and Southern LINC wireless telecommunications.