Paul Bowers
is president of generation and energy marketing for Southern Company,
one of the largest producers of power in the United States. As a member
of Southern Company’s team for 25 years, Bowers leadership has helped
to develop a regional powerhouse that is the largest energy supplier in
the Southeast.
A REGIONAL
POWERHOUSE
Southern Company Generation
and Energy Marketing (GEM) -- which employs approximately 6,000 people
-- owns, manages and operates 273 coal, oil, gas and hydro generating
units at 71 power plants with a combined capacity of 39,000 megawatts.
These facilities serve 4 million retail customers in a territory spanning
most of Alabama and Georgia, southeastern Mississippi and the Florida
panhandle, and include plants owned and operated by the competitive wholesale
subsidiary, Southern Power.
COMPETITIVE
GENERATION STRATEGY
The competitive generation
business is one component of Southern Company’s three - prong strategy
for the future: constant growth of the regulated business, development
of energy - related products and services, and increased activity in the
competitive energy business. Bowers, also as president of Southern Power,
oversees the building, acquisition, and operation of competitive wholesale
generation assets for Southern Company’s growth business.
STRATEGY FOR
SUCCESS
The company’s strategy
for success in the unregulated area is to link the building of new generation
to long-term bi-lateral contracts, minimize fuel risk, and do business
with investment-grade counter parties. The successful implementation of
this strategy has given Southern Company one of the lowest risk profiles
in the industry. Bowers expects to have about 6,000 megawatts of competitive
generation online by the end of 2005 to serve primarily the “Super
Southeast.”
In October 2003,
Southern announced the commercial operation of Stanton A, a new 630 megawatt
facility near Orlando, Florida. This joint project of Southern Company,
Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC-The Reliable One), Florida Municipal
Power Agency (FMPA), and Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA), will operate
under a long-term power purchase agreement with the other principles purchasing
Southern Company’s ownership share .
"This project is yet
another example of our growing presence in the wholesale market in the
Super Southeast," said Bowers. "The completion of Stanton A
illustrates what we do very well, design construct and manage generation
facilities, to meet the growing energy needs of customers in this region."
SOUTHERN TRADITION
Bowers joined Southern
Company in 1979 at Gulf Power. After a number of senior management and
marketing positions, he was elected president and chief executive officer
of South Western Electricity Plc. in 1998, then a subsidiary of Southern
Company. He undertook that company’s restructuring and re branding
as Western Power Distribution Plc. Back in the U.S., Bowers was then tapped
to serve as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Southern
Company.
A graduate of the University
of West Florida, Bowers also holds a Master’s degree in Management,
and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management
Program.
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