“Southern Company system employees recognized on Public Utilities Fortnightly “Fortnightly Under Forty” list”
<p>Three Southern Company system employees are recognized in the latest issue of Public Utilities Fortnightly (PUF) magazine’s annual “Fortnightly Under Forty” list.</p>
<p>The special edition salutes “the next generation of up-and-comers in the utilities industry.” Southern Company system employees honored include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Jim Heath, director of New Ventures for Southern Company</li>
<li>Abbey Roy, director of New Ventures for Southern Company</li>
<li>John Smola, director of New Development and Growth at Alabama Power Company</li>
</ul>
<p>Heath, Roy and Smola were selected for the list among 64 rising stars from 27 different industry organizations.</p>
<p>Jim Heath is a key player in strategic investing and the development of new products and services and leads initiatives aimed at reimagining the customer experience, providing customers with enhanced tools for sustainability and empowering customers and Southern Company with data and analytics.</p>
<p>Abbey Roy is responsible for developing the company's commercialization strategy for energy storage, distributed generation and microgrids. She supported the development and deployment of more than $800 million in energy technology projects, deployed a first-of-its-kind technology to market and provided oversight to the most complex microgrid in North America.</p>
<p>John Smola led successful recruitment efforts to bring startup accelerator Techstars to Alabama. John and his team focus on providing customers with solutions for energy efficiency, connectivity and Smart Cities to support and enhance core electric needs. The group is vital to improving Alabama’s economic development potential, increasing the profitability of existing revenue streams and generating new revenue streams.</p>
<p>Congratulations to Jim, Abbey and John.</p>
<p>Public Utilities Fortnightly is the flagship publication under Public Utilities Reports, Inc., a leading provider of industry news in the electric, natural gas, water and telecommunications industries for over 85 years.</p>
