Former U.S. Secretary of Energy Moniz appointed to board of Southern Company

The board of Southern Company announced Monday the appointment of Ernest Moniz, physicist and former U.S. Secretary of Energy, as an independent director effective March 1.

Moniz will serve on the Operations, Environmental and Safety Committee and the Nominating, Governance, Corporate Responsibility Committee as well as the Business Security Subcommittee of the board.

Moniz will stand for election to the board of directors by stockholders at the 2018 annual meeting.

“Ernie Moniz enhances our board by bringing a strong energy science and technology background together with broad expertise in energy and environmental policy, which will be invaluable as we continue to develop innovative solutions to shape America’s energy future,” Southern Company Chair, President and CEO Thomas A. Fanning said.

Moniz served as U.S. Secretary of Energy from 2013 to early 2017. He was a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology from 2009 to 2013 and received the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award in 2016.

Moniz is currently the CEO and co-chair of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the threat of nuclear, biological, radiological and chemical weapons. He is also CEO of Energy Futures Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering innovation in energy technology, policy and business models.

Prior to his appointment as Secretary of Energy, Moniz was a faculty member at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for more than four decades and was the founding director of the MIT Energy Initiative and Director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment. He is currently the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems emeritus at MIT and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Harvard Belfer Center.

“I have long admired Southern Company for its innovative approach to research and development within the clean energy space, and look forward to joining the board,” Moniz said. “Tom is an industry leader and I’m eager to work with him and the entire board in helping Southern advance at a time of great change in the energy world.”