GULFPORT, MS – In an effort to provide the most up-to-date reporting to customers when they need it most, Mississippi Power will use Twitter during storm events to tweet the most recent information possible to let customers know when power has been fully restored in their area.

“This year, for the first time, we will use social media to reach as many customers as we can as quickly as we can,” explains Mississippi Power Corporate Communications Director Todd Terrell. “In the case of a severe storm event, such as a hurricane, we want customers who may have evacuated and are unable to receive local news or log on to a computer to be able to find out when power has been restored in their area. Mobile Twitter allows us to send updates directly to customers’ phones.”

Twitter will only be used by the company during storm events at this time. Mississippi Power will launch Twitter during the next storm event in its service area. The company will use its website and the local news media to communicate the Mississippi Power Twitter address to gain followers.

“We are excited about this two-way communication and being able to communicate with our customers when they need us most,” said Terrell. “During a storm event, Mississippi Power will monitor its Twitter account to field any questions or concerns from customers as well as provide up-to-date restoration reporting.”

 The company will determine whether or not to use Twitter as a daily communication tool by its effectiveness during storm events.

“If customers find our Twitter reporting useful, we will certainly continue to use it and look for other advanced ways to stay in close touch with our customers,” said Terrell.

Customers can also go to the company’s website at www.mississippipower.com any time to check on outages after a major storm in their area or call the Customer Service Center at 1-800-532-1502, at any time, day or night.

Mississippi Power, headquartered in Gulfport, MS, provides retail and wholesale electric service to approximately 200,000 customers in 23 counties from the Gulf Coast to Meridian. The company owns or has significant ownership interests in six generating facilities with net dependable generating capacity of 3,166 megawatts. Electricity is sent across 8,371 miles of transmission and distribution lines to retail customers principally in Gulfport, Biloxi, Hattiesburg, Meridian, Pascagoula, Columbia, Laurel, Waveland, Lucedale and Picayune. 

Large wholesale customers include six electric cooperatives -- Coast EPA, Singing River EPA, Southern Pine EPA, Dixie EPA, Pearl River EPA and East Mississippi EPA -- the City of Collins and South Mississippi Electric Power Authority. Large retail customers include the following: the region’s United States military installations -- Keesler Air Force Base and Naval Construction Battalion Center (Seabee Base); the University of Southern Mississippi; NASA Stennis Space Center; oil and gas infrastructure, including a refinery; multiple foundries and shipbuilders; the Mississippi National Guard’s Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center near Hattiesburg and the Mississippi Air National Guard in Meridian.

Mississippi Power, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO), employs 1,300 Mississippi residents.  In 2008, Mississippi Power paid $115 million in federal, state and local taxes.  Southern Company stock is held by nearly 3,000 Mississippi residents.

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