GULFPORT, Miss. – During yesterday’s earnings call, Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning announced Mississippi Power’s new Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle plant in Kemper County will be named in honor of David M. Ratcliffe, recently retired chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company.
 
Ratcliffe served as president of Mississippi Power from 1991 to 1995. He started work with Southern Company as a chemist and worked his way up to chief executive at Mississippi Power and then at Southern Company.
 
He served at the helm of Southern Company for about six years, retiring last year after 39 years of service to the company.
 
Ratcliffe was widely recognized for his leadership with the U.S. electric utility industry. He is a past chairman of the Edison Electric Institute and received the Distinguished Leadership Award from EEI in September of 2010.
 
Plant Ratcliffe, which is scheduled to begin commercial operation in 2014, will incorporate advanced technology that will allow the facility to have less nitrous oxide, sulfur oxide and mercury emissions than traditional power plants.
 
The plant will use locally mined lignite as fuel and will provide significant tax revenues to the local area to be used to fund schools, lower property taxes and help equip local first responders.
 
Plant Ratcliffe will create 260 permanent jobs, with 1,000 jobs at peak construction.
 
Mississippi Power, a Southern Company subsidiary, serves more than 193,000 customers in 23 Southeast Mississippi counties.

Media contact: Verdell Hawkins, 228-861-5543 or 800-821-6383