Southern Company ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction for electric service to midsize business customers in the southern United States, according to the latest J.D. Power and Associates study.

This is the third consecutive year that Southern Company has received the award, which is based on interviewed representatives from more than 7,700 midsize businesses throughout the United States. Based on these interviews – which focused on key customer satisfaction factors such as price and value, power quality, and reliability –Southern Company compiled the region’s highest customer satisfaction index, also placing well ahead of the industry average in the customer service factor.

“At Southern Company, we continually focus on serving the needs of our customers, so it’s a distinct honor to rank highest in customer satisfaction for three years in a row,” said Leonard Haynes, Southern Company’s chief marketing officer. “Southern Company is committed to providing outstanding service and high reliability while keeping prices significantly below the national average.”

Southern Company’s high customer satisfaction ranking among midsize business customers complements the company’s customer satisfaction recognition in a separate J.D. Power and Associates study last year. In that study, Southern Company ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction for electric service to residential customers in the southern United States.

Headquartered in Agoura Hills, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting and customer satisfaction. The firm’s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on actual customer responses.

With nearly four million customers and more than 34,000 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 five electric utilities, a fast-growing competitive generation company and an energy services 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 “Most Admired Company” 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.