Southern Company subsidiary Southern Electric International has named Joe Pokalsky to the new position of vice president, energy trading and marketing.

“Joe brings to the company the expertise we need to make Southern Company a pre-eminent energy trader,” said Tom Boren, Southern Electric’s president and chief executive officer. Pokalsky’s primary job will be to oversee the operations of Southern Energy Marketing, the non-regulated trading and marketing affiliate of the Southern Company.

In addition to administering energy trading and marketing activities through Southern Energy, Southern Electric develops, builds, owns and operates power production and delivery facilities and provides a broad range of technical services to industrial companies and utilities in the U.S. and international markets.

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is also the parent firm of five electric utilities: Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power and Savannah Electric. Other subsidiaries include Southern Communications Services, Southern Nuclear, Southern Development and Investment Group and Southern Company Services. Together, these companies make up one of the largest electric utility groups in the United States. Southern Company’s common stock is one of the 20 most widely held corporate stocks in America.

Pokalsky previously was vice president of capital markets development for Enron Capital and Trade Resources. He joined Enron in 1991 and also worked as the company’s global risk manager and in the company’s financial trading business.

Before joining Enron, he worked for Manufacturers Hanover and Chemical Bank in currency and interest rate derivatives trading and product development.

Pokalsky, 40, holds master’s degrees in finance and transportation from the Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York in Buffalo. He is a chartered financial analyst and is a member of the Association for Investment Management and Research, the Society of Financial Engineers and the Energy Risk Management Association.