Porter is now responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership for the residential and commercial/industrial Customer Service centers, which handle 6 million customer calls per year.
 
Porter joined Alabama Power in 1991 as a Customer Accounting intern. He has served in roles of increasing responsibility, including senior corporate recruiter, senior Human Resources business representative, Customer Service supervisor in the Montgomery Customer Service Center, assistant manager of the Metro Central Business Office, and lead Human Resources business consultant, where he led Alabama Power’s leadership development, talent management and diversity efforts. Porter also has served as assistant to the executive vice president of External Affairs.

Porter’s community activities include serving as board chairman of Partnership in Neighborhood Growth and board member of Main Street Birmingham, the Jefferson County Education Foundation, the Jefferson County Economic & Industrial Development Authority, and City Action Partnership. He is a past president of the American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE) Birmingham Chapter and active with the A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club, where he spent much of his time as a youth.

Porter is a 2011 graduate of Leadership Birmingham, a graduate of the Birmingham Business Alliance corporate leadership program, the Alabama Power leadership development program, and past participant in the Alabama Leadership Initiative. He graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Tuskegee University and earned an MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He and his wife Yakima have two daughters.

Smoke previously served as manager for Commercial and Industrial Energy Sales and Efficiency for the Birmingham Division, where he had responsibility for sales and customer service for the division’s commercial and industrial accounts. He also oversaw steam heat operations at the Powell Avenue Steam Plant. In his new role he will maintain responsibility for steam heat.

Smoke has more than 29 years of experience with Alabama Power, having held various roles of increasing responsibility in Transmission Design, Substation Design and Distribution Engineering in corporate and division operations.

Smoke’s community involvement includes AABE Birmingham Chapter and executive sponsor for Learning Engineering and Applying Principles (LEAP). He also serves as an extraordinary minister at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Homewood.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University and a law degree from the Birmingham School of Law. He and his wife Jackie have two daughters.

Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO), provides reliable, affordable electricity to more than 1.4 million customers across the state.