Southern Company announced today that it has signed a long-term wholesale power sale contract totaling 250 megawatts with Alabama Electric Cooperative, beginning in 2006.

“This purchase will enable AEC to continue to provide reliable, affordable electricity to our members,” said Gary Smith, president and CEO, Alabama Electric Cooperative. “We are pleased to work with Alabama Electric Cooperative in meeting a portion of its future energy needs,” said Paul Bowers, president of Southern Company Generation and Energy Marketing, which manages and generates electricity for the company and markets energy in the competitive wholesale supply business. “As an energy company, we intend to provide generation across the Southeast in meeting the growth in our region and bringing value to our shareholders.”

Southern Company is the largest wholesale energy provider in the Southeast, supplying nearly 27 million megawatt-hours of electricity to wholesale customers in the region last year, representing more than 15 percent of the company’s total megawatt-hour sales. The company is adding more than 4,600 megawatts by the end of 2003 that will be dedicated to the competitive generation market.

In addition, Southern Company’s financial objectives target continued growth of the competitive generation business, with the expectations that net income from that business will double over the next five years.

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is a super-regional energy company with more than 32,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity in the Southeast. It is one of the largest producers of electricity in the U.S. Southern Company is the parent firm of Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power, Savannah Electric, Southern Nuclear, Southern Company Generation and Energy Marketing, Southern Company Energy Solutions, Southern LINC and Southern Telecom. Southern Company brands are synonymous with excellent customer service, high reliability, and prices that are 15 percent below the national average.

Alabama Electric Cooperative (AEC), headquartered in Andalusia, Ala., is a $940 million generation and transmission cooperative that provides wholesale electricity to member owners in south and central Alabama and northwest Florida. A Touchstone Energy cooperative, AEC is the seventh-oldest generation and transmission cooperative in the United States. Its member owners include 16 distribution cooperatives and four municipalities.

Forward Looking Statements Note: Certain information contained in this release is forward-looking information based on current expectations and plans that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements concerning Southern Company`s objective of growing its competitive generation business with the expectation of doubling net income from that business over the next five years. Southern Company cautions that there are certain factors that can cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information that has been provided. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is not a guarantee of future performance and is subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of Southern Company; accordingly, there can be no assurance that such indicated results will be realized.

The following factors, in addition to those discussed in Southern Company`s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000, and subsequent securities filings, could cause results to differ materially from management expectations as suggested by such forward-looking information: the impact of recent and future federal and state regulatory change, including legislative and regulatory initiatives regarding deregulation and restructuring of the electric utility industry and also changes in environmental and other laws and regulations to which Southern Company and its subsidiaries are subject, as well as changes in application of existing laws and regulations; current and future litigation, including the EPA civil action against certain subsidiaries of Southern Company and the diversity litigation against certain subsidiaries of Southern Company; the effects, extent and timing of additional competition in the markets in which Southern Company`s subsidiaries operate; the impact of fluctuations in commodity prices, interest rates and customer demand; state and federal rate regulation in the United States; the performance of projects undertaken by the non-traditional business and the success of efforts to invest in and develop new opportunities; internal restructuring or other restructuring options that may be pursued; potential business strategies, including acquisitions or dispositions of assets or businesses, which cannot be assured to be completed or beneficial to Southern Company or its subsidiaries; the effects of, and changes in, economic conditions in the areas in which Southern Company`s subsidiaries operate; financial market conditions and the results of financing efforts; the timing and acceptance of Southern Company`s new product and service offerings; the ability of Southern Company to obtain additional generating capacity at competitive prices; and weather and other natural phenomena.