GULFPORT, Miss. - Sept. 2, 2008 – Mississippi Power began the restoration process yesterday, following the landfall of Hurricane Gustav. Crews were out patrolling lines and assessing damage as soon as it was safe for them to move about the area. During the peak of the storm, Mississippi Power had more than 22,000 customers without power.

About 300 contract crews arrived on the Coast Monday night. Another 1,100, including about 900 Georgia Power line and tree crews and 50 Alabama Power tree crews, began moving into the Coast area this morning.

As of 3 p.m. today, Mississippi Power had about 3,500 customers without electric service.

“By the end of business today, Mississippi Power will have restored power to all customers who can receive it. Additional personnel are assisting our employees in restoring our electrical system,” said Anthony Topazi, president and CEO of Mississippi Power. “We ask customers to call and let us know if their power is still out.”

As restoration work is completed, outside workers will be released and available to assist neighboring utilities in Louisiana.

Mississippi Power and Southern Company are doing our absolute best to restore power as quickly and safely as possible so that all of our communities can return to some level of normalcy.

Customers can call Mississippi Power’s automated outage reporting number at 1.800.ITS.DARK (800.487.3275) or the customer service number at 1.800.532.1502.

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Media Contact: Cindy Duvall, Mississippi Power Corporate Communications, 228.865.5543 or 1.800.821.6383, cwduvall@southernco.com