Southern Company announced today that John F. Young has been named vice president of its wholesale power marketing group. Young replaces Fred D. Williams, who was named senior vice president at Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power.

"John Young will build on the growth that started when we consolidated our electric utilities` wholesale marketing efforts in 1996," said A.W. Dahlberg, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Southern. "I am confident that under John`s guidance Southern Company`s wholesale marketing will continue to outpace the competition by expanding our market share in the southeast region."

Young joined the wholesale marketing organization when it was formed in February 1996. He is a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy (1978) with a bachelor`s degree in mechanical engineering. After serving six years with the U. S. Navy, he began his Southern Company career at Gulf Power in 1983 in the industrial marketing organization, eventually being named Gulf Power`s general manager of marketing.

In 1993, Young was named vice president of investor relations in the company`s New York office, responsible for communication with Wall Street and the investment community. In 1995, he was chosen to manage Southern Company`s fuel planning and procurement organization, overseeing the largest utility-owned coal-buying operation in the country.

Southern Company is the largest wholesale power marketer in the southeastern United States. Its wholesale power marketing group serves municipalities, electric cooperatives and investor-owned utilities in and around Southern Company`s traditional service territories (Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida).

Southern Company also separately markets wholesale electricity and other forms of energy through its Southern Energy Inc. subsidiary.

Southern Company (NYSE: SO), the largest producer of electricity in the United States, is the parent firm of Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power and Savannah Electric. Based in Atlanta, Southern Company supplies electricity in nine countries on four continents and provides energy-related marketing, trading and technical services and wireless telecommunications. Southern Company`s common stock is one of the 20 most widely held corporate stocks in America.