ATLANTA - Southern Company (NYSE: SO) today announced that IDG's Computerworld magazine has selected Bart Wood, vice president of IT strategic planning and compliance for Southern Company, as one of the magazine's Premier 100 IT Leaders for 2012. “Bart’s knowledge of not only the Southern Company IT organization but also of technology trends in general is remarkable,” said Chief Information Officer Kenneth E. Coleman. “His focus on technology, both existing and emerging, and how to apply these technologies to best meet the needs of our customer is what sets Bart apart as a true leader on the technology front.” Each year Computerworld spotlights 100 award-winning leaders from both the technology and business sides of companies for their exceptional technology leadership, innovative ideas to business challenges and effective management of IT strategies. The Premier 100 awards ceremony will be one of the highlights of Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders Conference March 11-13, 2012, in Phoenix, Ariz. Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders Conference involves companies across all industries, as well as government and educational organizations. This year's recipients were selected based on Computerworld's IT Leadership Index, a set of characteristics that describes executives who guide the effective use of IT in their organizations, and evaluated by the editors and a panel of outside judges. The candidates were asked a range of topics, including their backgrounds, work experiences, special accomplishments and leadership styles. 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 was named the World’s Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility by Fortune magazine in 2011, and 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.