Southern Company named C.B. (Mike) Harreld to the position of senior vice president, finance. Harreld, 57, replaces Allen Leverett who was elected chief financial officer of Georgia Power, Southern Company’s largest subsidiary. Harreld will report to Gale Klappa, chief financial officer for Southern Company.

Harreld most recently served as CFO and comptroller for Southern Company Generation and Energy Marketing, the Company’s generation and energy marketing unit.

“Mike’s extensive experience in utility accounting and finance will serve him well in his new role,” Klappa said. “His experience in the domestic and international power arenas, where he gained valuable insight into regulated and competitive energy markets will be a tremendous asset.”

Harreld joined Southern Company in 1982, serving primarily as vice president, comptroller and chief accounting officer of Georgia Power. In 1995, he was named finance director of South Western Electricity in Bristol, England. Four years later, he was appointed senior vice president and controller of Southern Energy’s North America group and Southern Energy’s corporate controller. He then served as CFO of Mirant Corporation’s (formerly Southern Energy’s) Europe Group in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He had been in his most recent position since February 2001.

A native of Owensboro, Ky., Harreld earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Kentucky and a master’s degree in accounting from the University of Missouri. He attended Stanford University’s Executive Management Program. Before joining Southern Company, Harreld worked for Arthur Andersen in St. Louis and Atlanta.

Harreld plans to continue his involvement with the Atlanta Metropolitan YMCA by serving on the Metro Board of Directors, having previously served on the Ashford-Dunwoody YMCA Board and the Camp High Harbour Board.

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 five electric utilities, 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.