[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 11, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF THE RETIREMENT OF CHARLES D. McCRARY AS PRESIDENT AND 
                          CEO OF ALABAMA POWER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MIKE ROGERS

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 11, 2014

  Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, with my Alabama delegation 
colleagues Robert Aderholt, Spencer Bachus, Mo Brooks, Bradley Byrne, 
Martha Roby, and Terri Sewell, I ask for the House's attention today to 
recognize Charles D. McCrary. Mr. McCrary is retiring March 2014 from 
Alabama Power as the president and Chief Executive Officer.
  Mr. McCrary has served since October 25, 2001, as the 10th president 
and CEO of Alabama Power, which provides electricity to 1.4 million 
customers in Alabama. He joined Alabama Power during the summer of 1970 
following his freshman year at Auburn University and has held various 
positions of increasing responsibility within Southern Company, 
including vice president for Southern Nuclear Operating Company, and 
later held the positions of president of Southern Company Generation, 
chief production officer of Southern Company and president of Southern 
Power Company.
  Mr. McCrary was born in Birmingham in 1951. He graduated from Shades 
Valley High School and earned his Bachelor of Science in mechanical 
engineering from Auburn University, followed by a Juris Doctor from 
Birmingham School of Law and was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in 
1979.
  Mr. McCrary is married to the former Phyllis Brantley of Birmingham 
and the father of two sons, Doug and Alex.
  Mr. McCrary has been an active leader in the community and state of 
Alabama while serving as chairman of the Economic Development 
Partnership of Alabama and on the boards of Regions Financial 
Corporation, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc., Protective Life 
Corporation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Southern 
Research Institute and the Auburn University Board of Trustees.
  Mr. McCrary has been a coalition builder and a leader in economic 
development for the region and state through his vision and commitment 
calling for greater cooperation between cities, counties and business 
leaders. He was instrumental in bringing several large industries,, to 
Alabama, including automotive, aerospace and steel manufacturers.
  He implemented Target Zero, a safety program to ensure employees are 
properly trained and equipped to do their jobs safely, and the program 
has become a model for the utility industry. Mr. McCrary led the 
company and its customers through some of its greatest natural-disaster 
challenges, including Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which caused the largest 
number of outages in company history (825,701); Hurricane Katrina in 
2005 with 636,891 outages; and the tornado disaster on April 27, 2011 
with 412,000 outages. He made the decision to publicly announce 
restoration commitments after storms, a move that allowed the company 
to communicate to customers when they could expect to have power 
restored, making that practice standard today.
  Mr. McCrary worked closely with the International Brotherhood of 
Electrical Workers and managers to strengthen the relationship between 
the IBEW and management. He helped change the culture so management and 
labor have a mutual respect, creating a united front on behalf of all 
employees for various initiatives, including safety, employee morale 
and customer satisfaction and providing a business model throughout the 
industry.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me and the entire Alabama Delegation in 
thanking Charles McCrary for his tireless dedication to Alabama Power. 
His service to our state is an inspiration. We wish him the best of 
luck in his future endeavors.

                          ____________________