ATLANTA – Southern Company has named Leonard Haynes executive vice president of supply technologies, renewables and demand-side planning in Southern Company’s generation business unit. Among his responsibilities, Haynes will oversee the development of a renewable generation portfolio and the commercialization of the company’s integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology, as well as demand-side planning.

“Technology development for our company is critical for us moving forward, especially in seeking alternative forms of generating electricity,” said Paul Bowers, president of Southern Company Generation. “Whether it be in renewable energy or more advanced, cleaner methods of using coal, such as IGCC, or through energy efficiency, we must seek a mix of options that will help us meet our customers’ energy demand in a cleaner, more efficient way. Leonard is who we’ve chosen to further lead us down that path.”

Southern Company has invested more than $6 million over the last five years in renewable energy technologies, such as evaluating wind, solar and biomass as possible options. The company has successfully tested switchgrass as a biomass fuel, as well as expanded research into biomass for power generation by testing a gasification process, which has the potential to be cost-competitive when compared with other forms of renewable energy.

The company is currently participating in a joint effort with the Georgia Institute of Technology to determine if placing wind turbines off the coast of Georgia is a feasible and efficient renewable energy option for power generation.

Southern Company also is partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Orlando Utilities Commission to build an IGCC plant to demonstrate the cleanest, most efficient coal-fired generation technology in the world. The plant, located in Orlando, Florida, is scheduled to be in operation by 2011.

The company already has a long history of demand-side and energy efficiency efforts, which have led to the avoidance of more than 3,000 megawatts of peaking capacity, or about 8 percent of Southern Company’s current generating capacity.

“As one of the largest energy providers in the nation, we are committed to the responsibility we have to pursue new technologies and new sources of energy, while at the same time strengthening our conservation and demand-side programs,” said David Ratcliffe, president, chairman and CEO of Southern Company. “Asking Leonard Haynes to lead this effort is indicative of our serious commitment in these important areas.”

Haynes, who joined Southern Company as an industrial marketing engineer in 1977, has held various executive and management positions in marketing and power delivery. He currently serves as chief marketing officer. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, an MBA from Georgia State University and has attended the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

With more than 4 million customers and more than 40,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier super-regional energy company in the Southeast and a leading U.S. producer of electricity. Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states, a growing competitive generation company and a competitive retail natural gas business, 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 15 percent below the national average. Southern Company has been ranked the nation`s top energy utility in the American Customer Satisfaction Index six years in a row. Southern Company has more than 500,000 shareholders, making its common stock one of the most widely held in the United States. Visit the Southern Company Web site at www.southerncompany.com.