The Alabama Power Board of Directors has elected Mark A. Crosswhite as the new president and CEO of the company, effective March 1. Crosswhite also will join the board of directors of Alabama Power.
Crosswhite succeeds Charles McCrary, who is retiring after more than 12 years as the company’s leader. McCrary will remain chairman of the board of directors of Alabama Power until May 1, when Crosswhite is expected to assume the role.
“It is an honor to rejoin the ranks of the 6,700 employees of Alabama Power who, for more than a century, have been dedicated to serving communities across our state,” Crosswhite said.
Crosswhite, 51, returns to Alabama Power from Southern Company, Alabama Power’s parent, where he served as chief operating officer. In that position, Crosswhite oversaw Southern Company’s operations organization, which includes generation, transmission, engineering and construction services, system planning, research and environmental affairs, fleet operations, and trading. He also had responsibility over wholesale energy providers Southern Power and Southern Wholesale Energy.
He first joined Southern Company in 2004 as senior vice president and general counsel for Southern Company Generation. Prior to joining Southern Company, he was a partner in the law firm of Balch & Bingham LLP in Birmingham, where he practiced in the Energy Section for 17 years.
Crosswhite first joined Alabama Power in 2006 as senior vice president and counsel, where he oversaw the company’s legal matters. In 2008, he was named executive vice president for external affairs at Alabama Power, where he directed regulatory affairs, economic and community development, public relations, environmental affairs, and governmental affairs.
Crosswhite served as president and chief executive officer of Florida-based Gulf Power, also a Southern Company subsidiary, from 2010 until 2012.
A native of Decatur, Crosswhite’s family has deep roots in Alabama, dating to the early 19th century. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1984 from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and a J.D. degree in 1987 from the University of Alabama School of Law.
Mark Crosswhite serves on several civic and nonprofit boards, including the Executive Committee of the Birmingham Business Alliance, and the boards of directors for the University of Alabama Law School Foundation and the Virginia Samford Theatre. He is vice chair of the Electricity Committee of the Section of Public Utility, Communications and Transportation Law of the American Bar Association, a member of the Edison Electric Institute Legal Committee, and a graduate of Leadership Alabama.
Crosswhite and his wife, Jane Emily, have two sons.
