ATLANTA - Aug. 24, 2008 - For the fifth time this month, Southern Company set a new system peak demand record for electricity use. On Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2007, preliminary peak demand for generating electricity averaged approximately 40,870 megawatts (MW), between 4 and 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

This surpassed by 226 MW the highest of four previous all-time records for system peak demand set this summer: 40,644 megawatts on Aug. 9; 40,642 MW on Aug. 8; 39,215 MW on Aug. 7; and 39,036 MW on Aug. 6.

The latest system peak is 2,814 MW higher than last summer’s system peak of 38,056 MW, set on Aug. 10, 2006. Southern Company’s regulated regional electric utilities serve a 120,000-square-mile territory in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi. Southern Company’s competitive generation business extends to markets in six southeastern states.

The peak demand number represents the average demand for electricity generated over a one-hour period and reflects the retail and wholesale obligations for which Southern Company has generation supply responsibility.
 

About Southern Company:

With 4.3 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast, one of America’s fastest-growing regions. A leading U.S. producer of electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, 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 significantly below the national average. Southern Company has been listed the top ranking U.S. electric service provider in customer satisfaction for eight consecutive years by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

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