ATLANTA, Feb. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO Thomas A. Fanning today announced a number of changes within the company's management.

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Theodore J. McCullough will become executive vice president of Engineering and Construction Services for Southern Company Operations.  He will assume the role vacated by Penny M. Manuel, who has announced her plans to retire.

James P. Heilbron will replace McCullough as senior vice president and senior production officer of Alabama Power.

Dana P. Claburn will replace Heilbron as senior vice president and senior production officer of Southern Power.

"The bench strength of our executive team illustrates why Southern Company's commitment to leadership development is regarded among the best in the industry," said Fanning. "The depth of our executives' experience directly influences our customer-focused business model, allowing us to provide high reliability, low prices and high customer satisfaction."  

Manuel joined Southern Company in 1982 as a co-op student in fossil generation. She has held positions in maintenance, planning, engineering and fuel handling for various Alabama Power generating plants, until she moved into senior management and executive positions, managing generation assets. In 2005, Manuel was named vice president and senior production officer of Gulf Power. In 2007, she became vice president of technical services, and she moved into her current position in 2010. Manuel was the recipient of the 2012 Leadership Award from the Engineering Council of Birmingham. In 2011, she was chosen as one of UAB's "40 Engineers Making a Difference."

"For more than 30 years, Penny has remained at the forefront of our efforts to deliver exceptional service while addressing challenges facing our company and industry," said Fanning. "Under her leadership, the company has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure, helping build the system and solutions to best meet our customers' energy needs, both now and in the future."

McCullough, 49, is senior vice president and senior production officer of Alabama Power, a Southern Company subsidiary that provides electricity and energy services to 1.4 million customers in the southern two-thirds of Alabama. As executive vice president of Engineering and Construction Services, he will direct the approximately 1,600 employees responsible for new generation and environmental strategy development, major project design and construction execution, technology due diligence and O&M support.

McCullough joined Southern Company in 1987. He has held leadership positions at coal-fired, gas-fired and hydro-electric power plants in Georgia and Alabama, and also served as vice president and senior production officer of Gulf Power. A registered professional engineer, McCullough holds bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics from Vanderbilt University and a master's in business administration from Auburn University.

Heilbron, 41, is senior vice president and senior production officer of Southern Power, the subsidiary of Southern Company that acquires, builds, manages and owns generation assets that have been constructed for the wholesale market. As senior vice president and senior production officer of Alabama Power, he will oversee the utility's power generation functions.

Heilbron joined subsidiary Georgia Power as a plant engineer in 1998 after having worked at Milliken & Company. Since joining the company, he has worked as a plant manager and in maintenance, operations and large project management. Heilbron is a graduate of Auburn University, where he received a bachelor's degree in civil/environmental engineering and a master's degree in environmental engineering. He completed a master's in business administration at Emory University.

Claburn, 47, is director of Human Resources for Southern Company Operations. In her new role, she will oversee the operations of subsidiary Southern Power's more than 8,600 megawatts of electric power generation with facilities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina and Texas, and with an additional 30 megawatts under construction in Nevada.

Claburn joined Southern Company in 1987 as a student engineer in Oneonta, Ala. After graduation, she spent two and a half years at NASA in Huntsville, Ala., before rejoining Southern Company as an engineer. Since returning to the company, she has worked in engineering and construction services, system planning, plant management, fuel services and human resources. Claburn holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Alabama and a master's in business administration from Samford University.

With 4.4 million customers and more than 43,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast through its subsidiaries. A leading U.S. producer of clean, safe, reliable and affordable 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 energy innovation, excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are below the national average. Southern Company and its subsidiaries are leading the nation's nuclear renaissance through the construction of the first new nuclear units to be built in a generation of Americans and are demonstrating their commitment to energy innovation through the development of a state-of-the-art coal gasification plant. Southern Company has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense and G.I. Jobs magazine as a top military employer and listed by DiversityInc as a top company for Blacks. The company received the 2012 Edison Award from the Edison Electric Institute for its leadership in new nuclear development, was named Electric Light & Power magazine's Utility of the Year for 2012 and is continually ranked among the top utilities in Fortune's annual World's Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility rankings. Visit our website at www.southerncompany.com.

SOURCE Southern Company