Southern Company Vice President and CIO Receives Woman of the Year Award from Women in Technology Organization

ATLANTA, April 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Marie Mouchet, vice president and chief information officer of Southern Company Generation, Southern Nuclear and Southern Power has received the 2007 Woman of the Year in Technology award from the Women in Technology organization.

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The Women in Technology organization award recognizes women in technology or scientific leadership positions within technology or non-technology organizations, and women holding business leadership positions in technology. Mouchet received the top award for the enterprise business category. Winners in this category are employed by companies or organizations in Georgia that have more than 1,000 employees and have budgetary responsibility within their organization.

"This is a well deserved honor, and we are proud that Marie has received this award," said Becky Blalock, Southern Company senior vice president and chief information officer. "Marie is one of those people you love having on your team. She dedicates herself to being a role model and mentoring others. Our team and the entire company benefit from Marie's work and her efforts in building future leaders."

Mouchet, who joined Southern Company in 1982, has held various positions within the company including roles in regulatory, financial services, public relations, marketing, sales and generation. She currently leads the development and implementation of IT strategy and operations across the power generation and nuclear business in Southern Company. Her role provides strategic and tactical planning and direction of information technology for new plant acquisitions, new nuclear plant developments, a real-time trading floor, the engineering and construction organization, and the daily operation of IT infrastructure that makes electric generating plants run.

In addition to her professional accomplishments, the former teacher is active in various community and mentoring organizations. Mouchet serves on the advisory council for Gwinnett Technical College where she helps influence curriculum for the college and other institutions in Georgia. In 2004, she was also selected by the International Women's Forum as one of 14 women worldwide to participate in the Leadership Foundation Program, an internationally acclaimed training and personal development program. Mouchet is involved in leadership roles with the United Way, the Red Cross, Sheltering Arms Child Development Organization, and Energy Insights Council, a national organization whose members include business executives of utilities and CIOs.

With 4.3 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company is the premier energy company serving the Southeast, one of America's fastest-growing regions. 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 that are significantly below the national average. Southern Company has been listed the top ranking U.S. electric service provider in customer satisfaction for seven consecutive years by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Visit our Web site at http://www.southerncompany.com/.