ATLANTA – EnergyBiz magazine has named Southern Company “Energy Company of the Year” for its demonstrated business leadership in technology innovation, insight and sustained achievement in 2012. Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO Thomas A. Fanning accepted the award today at the EnergyBiz KITE Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.

“Southern Company’s success is a result of our customer-focused business model,” said Fanning “From leveraging energy innovation to developing new generation technologies to helping customers find more efficient ways to use electricity, we are committed to providing customer value.”

An industry leader in energy innovation, Southern Company has been actively engaged in robust, proprietary research and development since the 1960s. Company-managed research and development investments – which totaled more than $1.8 billion from 1970 through 2012 – have yielded technologies that will change the way America produces electricity. For example, Southern Company has found a way forward for coal in America with the development of Transport Integrated Gasification (TRIG™), a 21st century coal technology that uses an abundant, low-cost fuel – low-rank coal – to generate electricity with efficient operations and reduced emissions. TRIG will be used in Southern Company subsidiary Mississippi Power’s 582-megawatt Kemper County energy facility, where the company expects to generate electricity from native Mississippi lignite with resulting carbon dioxide emissions comparable to a similarly-sized natural gas facility.
 
Southern Company is committed to the development of the full portfolio of generation resources – new nuclear, 21st century coal, natural gas, renewables and energy efficiency – to ensure the continued delivery of clean, safe, reliable and affordable power, both now and in the future. As part of this commitment, Southern Company, through subsidiary Georgia Power, is leading the nation’s nuclear renaissance by being the first to build new nuclear units in more than 30 years with the construction of Plant Vogtle units 3 and 4 in Georgia.

The EnergyBiz KITE Awards are presented to executives and organizations in the energy industry that exemplify the characteristics of knowledge, innovation, technology and excellence as a cornerstone of success. EnergyBiz magazine Editor-in-Chief Martin Rosenberg presented the award on behalf of his editorial staff.

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.