January 24, 1996

Southern Development and Investment Group, a subsidiary of The Southern Company, today announced its involvement in providing an interactive energy services network with The Dominion Companies, a national apartment home developer, to package many of today’s most desirable home conveniences together at Chatelaine Park, a 303-unit apartment community in Duluth, Georgia. Occupancy is scheduled for January 1996.

Services in the total home efficiency package will be combined on one monthly services bill instead of separate utility bills. They include: interactive energy management provided by Southern Development on behalf of Dominion; energy management control provided by Raytheon;cable television provided by Wireless Cable of Atlanta; interactive television services provided by Source Media’s Interactive Channel; an intrusion alarm system monitored by Southern Development; Internet access provided by MindSpring Enterprises Inc. and access to long-distance telephone service provided by a local telephone company or Southern Development in conjunction with DeltaCom. Southern Development will use First Pacific Networks’ energy management and telephone-over-cable systems to enable the infrastructure to operate as a full service network.

Together, these services along with the energy-efficiency requirements make up the Georgia Power Co. Good Cents Premier Home. Chatelaine Park is the nation’s first multi-family community to offer the Premier Home.

Every apartment is equipped with sophisticated monitoring and control devices to control water heaters, air conditioners and other electrical devices. “By simply programming the energy command system to turn high energy-use appliances on and off to match the times when energy prices are lowest, residents use appliances in the most energy-efficient manner while reducing monthly energy costs,” said William H. Kirby Jr., New Business Development project director for Southern Development.

Interactive energy management allows residents to take advantage of variations in electricity pricing. Pricing signals are sent to each customer’s individual energy command system at Chatelaine Park, allowing residents to see how much energy will cost based on time of day and consumption in their apartments.

Before the residents of Chatelaine Park move in, every apartment will be wired for cable television with a choice of premium channels and special video selections, intrusion alert and Internet access.

Chatelaine Park has 97 one-bedroom, 171 two-bedroom and 35 three- bedroom apartments.

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) is also the parent firm of five electric utilities: Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power, and Savannah Electric. Other subsidiaries include Southern Communications, Southern Electric International, Southern Nuclear and Southern Company Services. The Southern Company’s stock is one of the 20 most widely held corporate stocks in America.