Electrical World magazine has named Southern Company subsidiary Southern Energy Inc. a recipient of its 1997 James H. McGraw Award, citing the company’s “pacesetting, yet judicious, international expansion efforts.”

The award, established in 1925 by publisher James H. McGraw, recognizes important contributions to the progress and future of the electricity industry.

Marie Leone, Electrical World’s editor-in-chief, took particular note of Southern Energy’s acquisitions of Consolidated Electric Power Asia in Hong Kong and South Western Electricity in England. She also cited the purchase of a 26 percent stake in Berlin’s Berliner Kraft und Licht AG (Bewag) and an option to take a share in Brazil’s Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais (CEMIG).

“Specifically, SEI’s auspicious formula of careful and detailed analysis followed by swift and decisive action and solid financing arrangements characterizes the company’s international growth strategy that sets it apart as a leader in the international acquisitions market,” Leone wrote in a letter notifying the company of the award.

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.

Southern Energy Inc. develops, builds, owns and operates power production and delivery facilities and provides a broad range of services to utilities and industrial companies around the world. Its Southern Company Energy Marketing subsidiary, jointly owned with Vastar Resources Inc., provides power marketing and energy trading services to wholesale and retail customers in North America.