Operations, Finance Executives Announced at Southern Company

ATLANTA, July 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Several leadership appointments were announced today in Southern Company's operations organization and one in its financial organization.

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In the finance organization:

• Xia Liu was named vice president of finance for the company's Southern Company Services subsidiary and assistant treasurer of Southern Company.

In operations, which includes generation, transmission, wholesale energy sales and Southern Power -- the company's competitive generation subsidiary -- leadership positions named include:

• Michael L. Burroughs, vice president and senior production officer for the company's Gulf Power subsidiary
• Stanley W. Connally, Jr., senior vice president and senior production officer for the company's Georgia Power subsidiary
• Kimberly D. Flowers,  vice president, technical services, generation
• William "Bill" C. Grantham, vice president and chief financial officer, operations
• James "Jim" P. Heilbron, senior vice president and senior production officer for Southern Power
• Penny M. Manuel, executive vice president, engineering and construction services, generation
• R. Allen Reaves, vice president and senior production officer for the company's Mississippi Power subsidiary
• Murry Weaver, vice president, Southern Wholesale Energy

"These individuals exemplify the diversity of experience we have across our system of companies and represent the kind of leadership and experience we'll need to continue to be among the best in our industry while meeting our customer's needs," said Southern Company CEO David Ratcliffe.

Liu joined Southern Company in 1998 and worked most recently as assistant treasurer and director of financial planning for Alabama Power.  She previously served as manager of financial and corporate planning for Alabama Power. Prior to that, she was the fuels environmental and compliance manager for Southern Company Generation.  Liu also has held positions of increasing responsibility within corporate finance and served as assistant to the Southern Company CFO. She earned a master's in business administration from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.  She also completed two years of study in Emory University's Economics Ph.D. program and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in finance from Renmin University in China.  Liu is also a CFA charter holder.

Burroughs joined Southern Company in 1991 as a junior engineer at subsidiary Alabama Power's Plant Barry.  He has held management positions at Gulf Power's Plant Smith in the areas of planning and engineering, maintenance and compliance. Burroughs also served as assistant to Southern Company's and Alabama Power's chief production officer. He was named plant manager of Georgia Power's Plant Yates in 2007. Burroughs earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Connally, named plant manager at Alabama Power's Plant Barry in 2007, has been with Southern Company for 21 years.  He began his career with Georgia Power and has worked in several functional areas including customer operations, sales and marketing and power generation. Prior to his current position, Connally served as plant manager of Mississippi Power plants Watson and Daniel. Connally earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.  He also completed the Goizueta Executive Education Program at Emory University in Atlanta.

Flowers began her career at Georgia Power as a co-op student in 1984 in district operations and moved to corporate performance after graduation. Before being named vice president and senior production officer of power generation at Mississippi Power in 2005, Flowers served as plant manager at Gulf Power's Plant Smith as well as Georgia Power's Plant Bowen.  She began her generation experience at Plant Wansley. As part of a company development program, she gained experience in retail marketing, wholesale marketing, finance and system planning.  Flowers earned a bachelor's degree in industrial and systems engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and holds a master's in business administration from the University of West Georgia. She also completed the Goizueta Executive Education Program at Emory University.

Grantham began his career at Southern Company as a distribution co-op student at Mississippi Power in 1988.  He has held various engineering positions in system planning and served as a project manager supporting Southern Company's competitive wholesale generation business. In 2004, he moved into the corporate finance area where he has held management roles of increasing responsibility. Most recently he was director, financial analysis and strategy support. Grantham earned bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Mississippi State University.

Heilbron, named plant manager at Georgia Power's Plant Wansley in 2006, joined Southern Company as a plant engineer with Georgia Power in 1998.  Prior to his current role, he served as plant manager of Southern Power's Plant Franklin. He has also held various roles involving maintenance, operations, compliance and large project management throughout a number of facilities. Heilbron earned a bachelor's degree in civil/environmental engineering and a master's degree in environmental engineering from Auburn University.  He also earned a master's in business administration from Emory University.

Manuel began her career at Southern Company in 1982. She spent the first part of her career in engineering, maintenance and fuel positions at Alabama Power plants Gorgas, Miller and Gaston.  She has also held various management positions in internal auditing, information technology and human resources. In 2001, she was named chief information officer for Alabama Power and Southern Nuclear. She became the senior production officer for Gulf Power in 2005. Most recently, Manuel held the position of vice president of technical services for Southern Company Generation. Manuel earned a bachelor's degree in materials engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She also has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Reaves, named plant manager of Mississippi Power's Plant Daniel in 2007, joined Southern Company in 1980. Throughout his 30-year career with the company, Reaves has held numerous positions since his start at Alabama Power's Plant Barry as an engineer in 1983. He also held leadership roles at Alabama Power plants Gorgas, Barry and Miller and served as manager of Plant McIntosh for Savannah Electric.  Prior to his current position, Reaves was the site manager at Southern Power plants Harris and Franklin, and he served two years as project director at former subsidiary Southern Electric International's Trinidad and Tobago generation company.  Reaves earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Weaver joined Southern Company in 2002 and has held various business development positions within Southern Company Generation.  He was named business development manager for Southern Wholesale Energy in 2007.  Prior to joining Southern Company, Weaver held sales and leadership positions in retail marketing and the competitive wholesale business of Entergy Corporation.  He also held project engineering positions with International Paper Company and Frito-Lay. Weaver earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Mississippi State University.

The appointments come on the heels of Southern Company's July 27 succession and management transition plan announcement.

With 4.4 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast.  A leading U.S. producer of electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications.  Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices below the national average.  Southern Company is consistently listed among the top U.S. electric service providers in customer satisfaction by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).  Visit our Web site at www.southerncompany.com.

SOURCE Southern Company