ATLANTA – Southern Company’s first quarter earnings were $224 million, or 32 cents per share, exceeding analysts’ expectations, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Allen Franklin said today.

Though the manufacturing sector of the economy in the Southeast continues to be soft, reducing demand for electricity, Franklin said certain positive factors and the fundamental strength of the company enabled Southern Company to produce strong overall results.

The results for the period compared with reported earnings per share of $180 million, or 26 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2001.

“Our performance in the first quarter demonstrates once again that our time-tested business model has the flexibility to produce consistently solid results,” Franklin said. “With our main businesses all performing well, we are off to a good start in 2002.” Decreased demand for electricity by industrial customers, as well as increased operations and maintenance expenses related to new generation that has been placed in service were negative factors affecting earnings in the first quarter. However, the effect of these negative factors was offset by increased residential and commercial electricity sales, lower interest costs and the overall impact of regulatory rate proceedings in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, Franklin said.

Revenues for the first quarter were $2.2 billion, compared with $2.3 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Reviewing operations, Franklin said electricity use by retail customers in Southern Company`s four-state service area increased 0.5 percent to 34.3 billion kilowatt-hours in the first quarter. In-home electricity needs were up 2.8 percent to 11.0 billion kilowatt-hours. Electricity use by commercial customers -- offices, stores and other non-manufacturing firms – increased 1.3 percent to 10.8 billion kilowatt-hours. Industrial energy use declined 2.2 percent to 12.3 billion kilowatt-hours.

Total sales of electricity to Southern Company`s customers in the Southeast, including sales to other utilities, decreased 0.3 percent to 40.7 billion kilowatt-hours.

In conjunction with this earnings announcement, Southern Company has posted on its Web site a package of detailed financial information on its first quarter performance. These materials are available at 7:30 a.m. EDT April 18 at www.southerncompany.com.

Southern Company`s financial analyst call will be at 1 p.m. EDT April 18, at which time Franklin and Chief Financial Officer Gale Klappa will discuss earnings and provide a general business update. Investors, media and the public may listen to a live Webcast of the call at www.southerncompany.com. A replay of the Webcast will be available at the site for 10 days.

With 4 million customers and nearly 35,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier super-regional energy company in the Southeast and a leading U.S. producer of electricity. Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states, a fast-growing competitive generation company and an energy services business, 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 15 percent below the national average. Southern Company has been named No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s 2002 “America’s Most Admired Companies” list in the Electric and Gas Utility industry. Southern Company has more than 500,000 shareholders, making its common stock one of the most widely held in the United States. Visit the Southern Company Web site at www.southerncompany.com.

Forward Looking Statements Note: Certain information contained in this release is forward-looking information based on current expectations and plans that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements concerning Southern Company`s ability to produce consistently solid results. Southern Company cautions that there are certain factors that can cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information that has been provided. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is not a guarantee of future performance and is subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of Southern Company; accordingly, there can be no assurance that such indicated results will be realized.

The following factors, in addition to those discussed in Southern Company`s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2001, and subsequent securities filings, could cause results to differ materially from management expectations as suggested by such forward-looking information: the impact of recent and future federal and state regulatory change, including legislative and regulatory initiatives regarding deregulation and restructuring of the electric utility industry and also changes in environmental and other laws and regulations to which Southern Company and its subsidiaries are subject, as well as changes in application of existing laws and regulations; current and future litigation, including the EPA civil action against certain subsidiaries of Southern Company and the diversity litigation against certain subsidiaries of Southern Company; the effects, extent and timing of additional competition in the markets in which Southern Company`s subsidiaries operate; the impact of fluctuations in commodity prices, interest rates and customer demand; state and federal rate regulation in the United States; political and legal conditions and developments in the United States; the performance of projects undertaken by the non-traditional business and the success of efforts to invest in and develop new opportunities; internal restructuring or other restructuring options that may be pursued; potential business strategies, including acquisitions or dispositions of assets or businesses, which cannot be assured to be completed or beneficial to Southern Company or its subsidiaries; the effects of, and changes in, economic conditions in the areas in which Southern Company`s subsidiaries operate; the direct or indirect effects on Southern Company’s business resulting from the terrorist incidents on Sept. 11, 2001, or any similar such incidents or responses to such incidents; financial market conditions and the results of financing efforts; the timing and acceptance of Southern Company`s new product and service offerings; the ability of Southern Company to obtain additional generating capacity at competitive prices; and weather and other natural phenomena.

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