Southern Company CEO announces key hire for Energy Innovation Center

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Jul 07, 2015, 09:00 ET

ATLANTA, July 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Thomas A. Fanning, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Southern Company, has announced the hiring of Michael Britt as vice president of the company's recently introduced Energy Innovation Center in Atlanta's Technology Square.

The Energy Innovation Center is the latest addition to Southern Company's enterprise-wide approach to innovation, which includes the advancement of new nuclear in Georgia, a first-of-its-kind clean coal facility in Mississippi and an industry-leading commitment to robust, proprietary research and development.

Under Britt's direction, the center will focus on developing and commercializing products and services that benefit customers as Southern Company extends its long-standing commitment to inventing the future of clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy.

"The Energy Innovation Center will be an incubator of products and services that will continue to position Southern Company as an industry leader," said Fanning. "Having followed the growth of Michael Britt's career, I am confident he represents the combination of product development experience, industry knowledge and understanding of Southern Company that is essential to meet the rapidly changing needs of the customers we're privileged to serve."

Michael Britt returns to Southern Company – where he held several positions during the 1990s – with nearly 30 years of experience in utility strategy, marketing, communications, data analytics and operational improvement. Britt has worked extensively throughout the electric utility industry, most recently as partner of the management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, where he fostered acquisition, market and growth strategies for U.S. utilities. Prior to that, he served as chief operating officer of Accenture's North American Utilities Strategy practice and as president and chief operating officer of an Atlanta-based telecommunications company.

Britt's previous positions at Southern Company include assistant to the chief information officer, director of mass market strategy and vice president of the company's Southern Telecom subsidiary. He earned a master's of business administration from the University of Notre Dame and a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

In April, Southern Company announced its intention to create a facility dedicated to developing solutions customers need today – and will need tomorrow – through collaborative strategic partnerships. Expected to open later this year, the Energy Innovation Center will build on the company's history of pioneering innovative ideas and serve as a home for new products and services. The center will also expand on the success of internal competitions that have sparked hundreds of innovative ideas from employees.

With more than 4.5 million customers and approximately 46,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast through its subsidiaries. A leading U.S. producer of clean, safe, reliable and affordable 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 energy innovation, excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are below the national average. Southern Company and its subsidiaries are leading the nation's nuclear renaissance through the construction of the first new nuclear units to be built in a generation of Americans and are demonstrating their commitment to energy innovation through the development of a state-of-the-art coal gasification plant. Southern Company has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense and G.I. Jobs magazine as a top military employer, listed by DiversityInc as a top company for Blacks and designated a 2014 Top Employer for Hispanics by Hispanic Network. The company received the Edison Award from the Edison Electric Institute for its leadership in new nuclear development, was named Electric Light & Power magazine's Utility of the Year for 2012 and is continually ranked among the top utilities in Fortune's annual World's Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility rankings. Visit our website at www.southerncompany.com.

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