GULFPORT, Miss., July 21, 2011 – Mississippi Power President and CEO Ed Day and the company’s board of directors have named Jeff Franklin as vice president, Customer Services Organization, effective August 1.

Franklin succeeds Don Horsley who has served as vice president for five years and will be leading SouthernLINC Wireless and Southern Telecom as president and CEO. Horsley will be relocating to Birmingham, Alabama.

"We want to thank Don for leading the customer services organization since 2006. Don’s dedication to Mississippi Power, his commitment to customer service and reliability and his passion for the communities we serve will be greatly missed," said Ed Day.

"Jeff comes to us from Georgia Power with a broad background in region operations, system planning, generation, and customer and governmental relations," said Day. "This vast experience positions him well to effectively lead customer services going forward."

Franklin, a native of Corner, Alabama, began his career with Southern Company in 1986, working at Alabama Power’s Plant Miller. Most recently he served as vice president of Governmental and Legislative Affairs for Georgia Power. His professional responsibilities have included district engineering, corporate marketing, wholesale energy, system planning and finance. He has also served as project manager for generation strategy and generation development.

Franklin has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Alabama, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Alabama – Birmingham and attended Harvard’s Executive MBA program.

Mississippi Power, a Southern Company subsidiary, serves approximately 188,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties.