ATLANTA – Southern Company’s Renew Our Rivers program received an Outstanding Stewardship of America’s Rivers (OSAR) Award at the National Hydropower Association’s (NHA) annual conference today in Washington.

The project originated in 2000 at Southern Company subsidiary Alabama Power’s Plant Gadsden on the Coosa River and has since spread across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, receiving numerous awards.

In recognizing the Renew Our Rivers program, the NHA noted the innovation, collaborative partnerships, accomplishments and environmental stewardship efforts that are an essential part of the program.

Highlights and notable accomplishments of Renew Our Rivers will be listed on The Outstanding Stewardships of America’s Rivers Web report at www.outstandingrivers.org, which presents illustrations of exemplary stewardship of hydroelectric generators. Company representatives are being recognized at a special luncheon in Washington.

“Renew our Rivers has been a wonderful opportunity for our employees to partner with the local community in addressing the need to remove trash from our waterways.   Additionally, these events have provided participants awareness of our valuable water resources.” said Chuck Huling, environmental affairs vice president for Georgia Power, the largest subsidiary of Southern Company.
 

Renew Our Rivers, the Southeast’s largest river cleanup campaign, is entering its seventh year with spring cleanups throughout the southeast. The program spearheaded by community volunteers and company employees has selected “A New Beginning” as the slogan for this year’s campaign.

Since its inception in 2000, 6,000 volunteers have removed more than 5.5 million pounds of trash. Last year, the goal was “5 in ’05” throughout Southern Company.   The company easily surpassed that number, removing 2,142,380 pounds of litter from waterways in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, to achieve a total of 5,539,600 pounds.  Annually in Georgia, cleanups are held on the Chattahoochee, Flint, Ocmulgee, Oconee, Chattooga and Tallulah Rivers.

Renew Our Rivers won the national Keep America Beautiful Volunteer Leadership Award in 2004 and its Litter Prevention Award in 2002.   Georgia Power received the Business Leadership Award from Georgia’s Rivers Alive organization in 2005 for its work in the Renew Our Rivers program.

For more information about Renew Our Rivers and details about Georgia Power’s environmental initiatives, please visit www.georgiapower.com.

Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the nation’s largest generators of electricity.  The company is an investor-owned, tax-paying utility, serving customers in 57,000 of the state’s 59,000 square miles. Georgia Power’s rates are below the national average and its 2 million customers are in all but six of Georgia’s 159 counties.