Southern Company announces executive appointments

Southern Company Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer David Ratcliffe today announced several management changes. “These coordinated moves provide new leadership opportunities and further align our company’s management structure to our business goals,” said Ratcliffe.

The following executive appointments involve Southern Company Generation, which oversees Southern Company’s fleet of non-nuclear generating units across the Southeast. Southern Company Generation will continue to be led by President Paul Bowers. The appointments also involve Southern Company’s finance organization, as well as Southern Company subsidiaries Georgia Power, Mississippi Power and Southern Company Gas. • Ronnie Bates, senior vice president of planning, sales and service for Georgia Power, has been named executive vice president of competitive generation for Southern Company Generation. Effective March 17, Bates will also assume the role of president and chief executive officer of Southern Power.

• Mickey Brown, senior vice president of distribution for Georgia Power, has been named executive vice president of the customer service organization for Georgia Power. In this role, Brown will continue to lead Georgia Power’s distribution organization, in addition to the company’s customer service and sales organizations.

• Doug Jones, executive vice president of Southern Company Generation, has been named senior vice president of customer service and sales for Georgia Power.

• Phil Saunders, president and chief executive officer of Southern Company Gas, has been named senior vice president of operations and generation services for Southern Company Generation.

• Ron Bertasi, president and chief executive officer of Southern Company Energy Solutions, has been named president and chief executive officer of Southern Company Gas.

• Mike Harreld, Georgia Power chief financial officer, will be named Southern Company Services executive vice president and chief financial officer of Southern Company’s transmission business, effective March 17. In addition, Southern Company Energy Solutions will report to Harreld.

• Cliff Thrasher, vice president, chief financial officer and comptroller of Southern Company Generation will be named executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of Georgia Power, effective March 17.

• Mike Southern, vice president, treasurer and chief financial officer of Mississippi Power, will be named senior vice president, chief financial officer and comptroller of Southern Company Generation and chief financial officer for Southern Power, effective March 17.

• Frances Turnage, Mississippi Power comptroller, will be named vice president of finance, treasurer and chief financial officer of Mississippi Power, effective March 17.

• Charley Long, vice president of generation, planning and development of Southern Company Generation, has been named vice president of fleet operations and trading of Southern Company Generation. Long is replacing Bill Marshall, who is retiring after 40 years of service.

“We are fortunate to have a wealth of talented and experienced individuals in leadership positions across our company,” Ratcliffe added. “These new organizational changes will allow us to further sharpen our focus on providing our customers with reliable, competitively priced energy.”

With more than 4 million customers and nearly 39,000 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 growing competitive generation company, an energy services business and a competitive retail natural gas 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 three consecutive years No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s “America’s Most Admired Companies” list in the Electric and Gas Utility industry. Southern Company has been ranked the nation’s top energy utility in the American Customer Satisfaction Index five years in a row. 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.