Vice President named for Energy Innovation Center
<p>Michael Britt has been named vice president in charge of Southern Company's recently announced Energy Innovation Center.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Under Britt's direction, the Energy Innovation Center will focus on developing strategic partnerships and commercializing products and services that benefit customers.</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>With nearly 30 years of experience, Britt has worked extensively throughout the electric utility industry in the areas of strategy, marketing, communications, data analytics and operational improvement, consulting with more than 20 top energy and energy-related companies in the United States, Europe and Canada.</p>
<p>Most recently, he served 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 LecStar Telecom Inc.</p>
<p>Britt is no stranger to Southern Company, having held multiple positions with the company during the 1990s, including assistant to the chief information officer, director of mass market strategy and vice president of Southern Telecom.</p>
<p>He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's of business administration from the University of Notre Dame.</p>
<p>Britt, who began his new duties last week, will report to Chuck Darville, Southern Company Services vice president of marketing and program management.</p>
<p>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 developing new products and services. The center will also expand on the success of SO Prize, the internal competition that sparked nearly 1,000 innovative ideas from employees in 2014.</p>
