Southern Company announced today it will market and service Delco Electronics Magne Charge electric vehicle chargers in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and the panhandle of Florida.

“A well-serviced system of chargers could propel electric vehicles into everyday use,” said A.W. Dahlberg, Southern Company chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Electric vehicles — a clean, quiet technology — will be of enormous benefit in improving the region’s air quality and in stimulating economic development. Southern Company can ensure the vehicles have a convenient supply of electricity nearby.”

Dahlberg serves as 1997 co-chairman of the Electric Transportation Coalition, a national organization promoting public policy that will lead to a sustainable market for electric vehicles.

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 eight 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.

The Magne Charge marketing venture is a partnership with Virginia Power, which sells the chargers in the Southeast outside Southern Company’s four-state territory. The easy-to-use chargers cost between $2,000 and $3,000. Southern Company, the exclusive service provider in the four-state area for Magne Charge, will initially market the system to fleet owners.

The company also is developing a public charging infrastructure in Atlanta, placing public access chargers at Perimeter Mall and the Dunwoody, West End and Lindbergh Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) stations.

Southern Company also plans to install chargers at Lenox Mall and is evaluating other public access locations.