ATLANTA, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southern Company Chairman and CEO David M. Ratcliffe today announced the election of Dr. Steven R. Specker, 65, to the Southern Company board of directors.

"With a career that has spanned nearly every dimension of the electricity sector, Dr. Specker brings to the board of directors a keen understanding of our business and our efforts to lead the industry in innovation and technology development," said Ratcliffe.

Specker recently retired from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), where he served as president and CEO from 2004 to 2010. Prior to joining EPRI, he was president of Specker Consulting, LLC, where he provided operational and strategic planning services to technology companies serving the global electric power industry.

Specker held numerous management positions at General Electric (GE) before retiring after 30 years of service. As president of GE's nuclear energy business, he was responsible for all GE activities in the global commercial nuclear power industry. As president of GE Digital Energy, he was responsible for the formation and start-up of a new business venture serving the growing needs of the digital economy for highly reliable electricity. He was named vice president of global marketing for GE Energy in September of 2001.

Earlier in his career, Specker was general manager of GE's electric meter, protective relay and electrical engineering services businesses.

He began his career as a nuclear engineer for the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Specker earned a bachelor of science in engineering science and a master of science and a doctorate in nuclear engineering from Iowa State University.

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. Visit our website at www.southerncompany.com.

SOURCE Southern Company