Honored in six categories, including Best CEO
 
ATLANTA - Southern Company (NYSE: SO) has been ranked in one of the top three spots in six categories of the "2012 All-America Executive Team" for investor relations by Institutional Investor magazine.

In voting by the Sell-side community, Southern Company's chairman, president and CEO, Thomas A. Fanning, was ranked top CEO in the electric utilities sector; chief financial officer Art P. Beattie ranked second for Best CFO; and Glen A. Kundert, vice president, investor relations, ranked third as Best Investor Relations professional. 

Fanning also ranked third in the Best CEO category by the Buy-side community and Southern Company took second and third place in the Best Investor Relations in the electric utility sector by the Sell-side and Buy-side community, respectively.

"Southern Company has maintained constructive, engaging and transparent relationships with Wall Street and the analyst community for many years in order to ensure they have the information they need to make the best possible recommendations to investors," said Fanning.  "We are honored by this recognition and believe these ratings reflect the financial community's great faith in Southern Company's ability to deliver value to our customers every day."

To determine the members of the 2012 All-America Executive Team, Institutional Investor surveyed Buy-side analysts, portfolio managers and Sell-side analysts at security firms and financial institutions to name the best chief executive officers, chief financial officers, investor relations professionals and companies with the best investor relations programs in their domains. Survey results reflect the opinions of nearly 1,350 money managers and investment professionals at more than 600 Buy-side firms and over 830 Sell-side analysts from about 150 institutions.
 
Southern Company is consistently recognized as an industry leader in customer satisfaction and operational excellence. The company operates one of the most reliable fleets of electric generating facilities in the world and is currently the first U.S. utility in more than three decades to build a nuclear power plant.  Southern Company enjoys the highest market cap in the industry while also being known for its robust research and developmental program. 

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 is the parent firm of electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications companies. 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.