ATLANTA - Southern Company today announced it has set a new all-time winter system peak demand record for electricity. Between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. EST, preliminary peak demand for electricity averaged approximately 35,861 megawatts, exceeding by 281 megawatts Southern Company's previous wintertime peak of 35,580 megawatts set on Jan. 5, 2009.

Sustained cold temperatures continue to affect the Southeast, driving Southern Company demand to higher than normal levels for this time of year," said Greg Darnell, Southern Company Generation Fleet Operations manager.

According to Darnell, Tuesday morning's system temperature - the average temperature weighted across five cities in the Southern Company territory - was 19 degrees Fahrenheit.

System peak demand is an indicator of what is required from Southern Company's generating plants - and how hard they are working - to ensure a reliable supply of electricity needed by customers. The peak demand number reported by Southern Company Fleet Operations represents the average peak demand for electricity generated during a one-hour period and reflects the retail and wholesale obligations of Southern Company.

With 4.4 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. 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 below the national average. Southern Company is consistently listed among the top U.S. electric service providers in customer satisfaction by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Visit our Web site at www.southerncompany.com