ATLANTA - Feb. 19, 2008 - Southern Company Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President David M. Ratcliffe today named Ronnie Labrato vice president, internal auditing, following the announced retirement of Jackie Collins, who has led the company's internal auditing function since 2001. Labrato will assume his duties effective April 1.

"Jackie has demonstrated excellent leadership in this very important part of our business, and Ronnie brings the credentials and experience to continue that strong leadership," said Ratcliffe.

Labrato is currently vice president and chief financial officer of Pensacola, Fla.-based Gulf Power, the Southern Company subsidiary that serves than 410,000 customers across northwest Florida. He joined Gulf Power in 1979 as a senior financial analyst and has held numerous roles with increasing responsibility, including general accounting manager and financial planning manager. He was named comptroller and chief financial officer in 2000 and promoted to vice president in 2001.

Prior to joining the company, Labrato worked for the Deloitte, Haskins and Sells in Dallas, Tex. A Pensacola native, he received a bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of West Florida in 1974 and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Collins will leave Southern Company May 30 after a 27-year career spanning a number of accounting and financial reporting roles, including leading the internal audit function through a period of enormous change brought about by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

"Jackie's skills and experience have served us well," said Ratcliffe. "We wish him well as he enters a new chapter of his life."

About Southern Company 

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, one of America's fastest-growing regions. 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 significantly below the national average. Southern Company has been listed the top ranking U.S. electric service provider in customer satisfaction for eight consecutive years by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Visit our Web site at http://www.southerncompany.com/.

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SOURCE: Southern Company

CONTACT: Jason Cuevas of Southern Company, +1-404-506-5333, or
+1-866-506-5333, media@southerncompany.com

Web site: http://www.southerncompany.com/