POWERGRAMS

TARGET ZERO Six Alabama Power employee ideas are in the Top 12 of Southern Company's SO Safe challenge that will honor five overall winners after online voting ends Thursday, July 9. Finalists from Alabama Power and their SO Safe ideas are: • Corporate Headquarters Environmental Strategy Engineer Julia Green – "SO Safe Rewards" • General Services Complex Power Delivery Safety and Training Specialist Danny Hayes – "Minimum Approach Barrier MAD BAR" • General Services Complex Storeroom Operations Materialman William Largin – "Material Handling Enhancement" • Corporate Headquarters Market Specialist Charles Little – "SO Safe Parking Deck Enhancements" • Eufaula Garage Fleet Specialist Franklin McKee – "I Didn't Know That Could Happen" • Clanton Power Delivery-Distribution Engineering Supervisor Kimberly Williams – "Lone Worker Protection." "By incentivizing a safety-conscious attitude, SO Safe encourages employees to think about and take action to achieve the company's goal of Target Zero," said Green. Hayes said while Alabama Power has always been a leader in safe working practices, he hopes his "simple idea" can help the company and other utilities stay ahead of the curve. "Lone workers and crew members on a daily basis have to wear class 2 gloves and apply soft cover-ups to do maintenance, trouble-shooting, voltage checks and routine work on energized transformers," Hayes said. "The MAD BAR will keep them from breaking minimum approach. When used, it will help us in the customers' eyes by keeping the lights on and the meters turning." Little said his idea was born from firsthand experience avoiding precarious situations at work. "Thankfully, I have never had an incident, but I am looking forward to our parking decks and parking lots becoming safer places for both pedestrians and drivers," Little said. "We all need an extra dose of diligence and awareness in places where our daily routines can lead to complacency." Each of the finalists was quick to praise other employees for encouragement as well as for considering their ideas and voting through the first rounds of the safety competition. "I would just like to thank the people that liked me in the first round and I'll need them again now that I'm in the Top 12," McKee said. "I would like to encourage everyone to look at SO Safe and vote for the best ideas." Williams said her submission was spurred by a summer engineering intern who worked in the Clanton Office last year. Williams teamed with Emily Boles, Jane Conradi, Tim Hall, Melissa Hanby and Erin Moore for their SO Safe idea. "While we discussed safety as related to distribution work, it crossed our minds that as a lone worker, the intern would face other safety issues such as irate customers and wildlife," Williams said. "From there, our diverse team began identifying many more departments where employees work by themselves. There is a great need to provide tools and resources to protect all of our lone workers." Alabama Power employee ideas accounted for 10 of those initially graduating to the final 25 on June 11. An expert review panel assessed those ideas to narrow the list to 12. All Southern Company employees have the opportunity to vote on and select four of the five winning ideas through pairwise voting. Other Alabama Power employees among the less than 3 percent of all Southern Company employees reaching the top 25 were: • Saraland Distribution Manager Robert Bailey – "Hey Buddy – Want to be a Movie Star?" • Corporate Headquarters Power Delivery- Distribution Management System Technician Robert Foster – "Zero Dollar Days" • Corporate Headquarters Transmission Data Management and Technology Engineer Joseph Marcrum – "The Safety Challenge" • Corporate Headquarters Strategic Communications Specialist Staff Todd Perkins – "Hard Hat Cooling System." The executive review panel led by Chief Operating Officer Kim Greene will select one of the final five ideas. The winning ideas will receive $10,000 each. Visit the SO Safe Challenge for more information about each idea and to cast a vote. Alabama Power ideas comprise half of SO Safe Top 12 finalists 2 Environmental Specialist Ken Boyd has photographed trains for many years. His efforts have produced the new coffee-table book "The Art of the Locomotive." ON THE COVER:

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